Situational Variables on Obedience

Question 1

What is proximity?

Answer 1

• In this research it refers to how close the participant was to the authority figure (experimenter)
• Participants in close proximity to authority figure were more likely to obey

Question 2

What did Milgram find about proximity?

Answer 2

• Obedience was high (65%) in his original study when the experimenter was in the same room as the PP
• This reduced to 20.5% when the experimenter gave instructions on the phone rather than being in the same room`

Question 3

What is location?

Answer 3

The location of a situation can affect the way a request is viewed and so the likelihood of obedience. This happens in 2 ways:
1. Can enhance legitimacy of authority figure if the setting is prestigious/official thus increasing obedience
2. Can be either appropriate or inappropriate for authority figure to give orders in. If the location is appropriate there will be more obedience
e.g. more likely to obey a ticket inspector on a train than in school

Question 4

What did Milgram find about location?

Answer 4

• Conducted a variation of his experiment in a rundown office block
• Only 47.5% of PPs obeyed to 450 volts compared to 65% in the prestigious university (Yale) used in the original
• The prestige of the university increased the experimenter’s legitimacy of authority and the amount PPs trusted them - this led to higher obedience rates

Question 5

What is uniform?

Answer 5

• Clothing worn by authority figure affects our perception of them thus influencing obedience
• Official looking uniform (e.g. police) increases legitimacy of authority thus leading to more obedience
• If uniform is appropriate for current setting there will also be more obedience e.g. more likely to obey someone in a lab coat in a science lab than on a train

Question 6

What did Bickman find about uniform?

Answer 6

• Conducted a field experiment in New York where he asked passers-by to do tasks like picking up rubbish or lending money to a stranger for a parking meter
• In the condition the experimenter was dressed as a security guard 92% of PPs obeyed request to lend money
• In the other condition where the experimenter wore normal clothes only 58% obeyed
• This shows that uniform is important in increasing obedience

Question 7

How is control a strength?

Answer 7

• A strength of Milgram’s research on situational variables is that the experiments had high control
• He systematically altered one variable at a time e.g. location while keeping other variables the same (used the same confederate authority figure for all PPs) to see how it affected obedience levels
• This is a strength as it allows direct comparison between obedience levels in the 2 locations studied meaning a cause and effect relationship can be established
• Thus we can conclude with some certainty that the lower obedience levels in the run down office block were due to the location change and not other extraneous variables
• This validates Milgram’s research

Question 8

How does Bushman support?

Answer 8

• A strength of uniform as an explanation of obedience is that there is supporting evidence
• Bushman did a field experiment where a female confederate asked PPs to give change to a stranger for a parking meter
• When the woman was wearing a police uniform obedience rates were much higher than when she wore casual clothing or business attire
• This supports the role of uniform as it shows that people are more likely to obey someone wearing official-looking clothes (thus enhancing legitimacy of authority)
• Also as only the police uniform increased obedience (even though business attire is also official) shows that uniform must also be appropriate for the setting to increase obedience
• This validates uniform as an explanation of obedience

Question 9

How is ethics a weakness?

Answer 9

• A weakness of uniform as an explanation of obedience is that its supporting research breaks ethical guidelines
• Bickman’s PPs could not give informed consent as the study took place in a real life setting and PPs didn’t know they were in an experiment
• This research also used deception as PPs were misled into thinking that the confederate was a genuine authority figure with social power which was untrue
• Although these ethical guidelines were broken to ensure genuine PP behaviour and valid results the ethical violations still reduce the credibility of the research