social Flashcards
legitimate authority
- degree to which individuals are seen as justified in having power over others
- accepts power and status of authority
e.g officers in the army are seen as having legitimate authority
milgram 1963: noted how some ptps ignored learner’s distress, showed none themselves and concentrated on pressing switches properly
3 explanations of authority
legitimate authority
agentic state
authoritarian personality
agentic state
where an individual obeys an authority figure who is seen as responsible for the consequences of the action
their own actions, and almost none of them were prepared to obey.
evidence to support agentic state
- milgram study supported this as ptps were reminded that they had responsibility for
- however, many participants who were refusing to go on did so if the experimenter said that he would take responsibility.
- agency theory: sees people to obey authority to keep stability in society
e.g: adolf eichmann responsible for nazi exterminations of millions said ‘i was following orders’
authoritarian personality
perception of behaviour as caused by the internal characteristics of individuals
personality type characterised by a belief in absolute obedience, submission to authority and domination of minorities
adorno - a.p held by obedient insecure individuals with a strong belief in ‘might is right’
evidence to support authoritarian personality
- jost et al 2003: AP motivated by a desire to reduce anxieties bought by social change
- adorno: obedient ptps scored high on f scale for authoritarianism
evidence to refute authoritarian personality
- questionnaire is easily manipulated, people can second guess
- people who are highly educated tended to score high on the f scale, could be to do with education level and not background
variables affectting obedience
- proximity
- uniform
- location
proximity
physical distance individuals are from the consequences of being obedient
- the greater the distance, the less awareness of the consequences
location
can add or subtract from legitimacy of an authority figure
obedience higher in locations that add to legitimacy of authority figure.
uniform
gives impression of legitimacy to authority figures, thus increasing obedience
milgrams researchers wore a lab coat to give perception of legitimate authority
proximity study findings
- ptps obeyed more when the experimenter was in the same room (62.5%)
- reduced to 40% when ptp and experimenter were in seperate rooms
- 30% touch proximity (forcing hand)
location study findings
milgram 1974 - obedience dropped from 62.5% to 47.5% when study was done in a run down office block instead of yale uni
- presitge location increases trust
uniform study findings
bickman: 19% obeyed someone in casual clothes telling them to pick up litter they had not dropped. compared with 35% that obeyed when that person was in guard uniform
- better uniform = higher status
- demand characteristics particularly evident in this condition
research into obedience - procedure
milgram:
- ptps given role of teacher, confederate given role of learner
- ptp had to ask confederate a series of questions and when they got the answer wrong, the ptp had to give them an electric shock
- shocks incremented by 15V at a time ranging from 300 - 45V
- shocks were fake but ptps were assessed on how many V they were willing to shock the confederate with
research into obedience - findings
- all ptps went up to 300V and 65% when up to 450V
- no ptps stopped below 300V whilst only 12.5% stopped at 300V showing that most ptps were prepared to give lethal electric shock to confederate
evaluation of research into obedience
strengths:
- highly replicable and consistent levels of obedience were found. increases reliability of findings
- external validity by supporting studies, hofling et al 1966 found that 95% of nurses in a hospital obeyed a doctor (confederate) over the phone to increase dosage of medicine to double what it’s advised
weaknesses:
- ethical issues: deception and so informed consent couldn’t be obtained
- tasks aren’t similar to real life scenarios
- psychological harm inflicted upon ptps
other studies in obedience 1-uniform
hofling:
- field exp, independant groups
- 153 ptps in new york
- gave 3 orders to pedestrians: ‘pick up this bag for me’ ‘give this man some change’ ‘stand on the other side of the road’ etc
- people more than 3x likely to obey person in a guard suit - 89% obeyed guard, 57% milkman, 33% civilian
other studies into obedience 2- proximity
bickman:
- hofling pretended to be ‘dr smith’ and phone nurses telling them to give 20mg of a drug to patients when the max was 10mg
- 21/22 obeyed
- shows that authority makes people do bad things
- most didn’t notice incorrect dosage
real life examples of studies into obedience
- presence of authority figure: if teacher leaves classroom, there’s an instant eruption of noise. teachers = legitimate authority figure
- child honouring wishes of parents
how to conduct research ethically
- informed consent
- deception
- risk of harm: no more than ptps expect irl
- confidentiality: all ptps should be anonymous unless prior consent was given
- right to withdraw
- debriefing: after exp, researcher must ensure ptp is returned back to their initial state
explanations to resisting conformity
- social support/dissenter
- locus of control
- reactance
- status