Social Flashcards
Define Autonomous state
A mindset where we behave independently, make our own decisions about how to behave and take responsibility for the consequences of our actions.
Define obedience
A form of social influence in which an individual follow direct orders. The person giving the order is an authoritarian figure, who has power to punish when obedient behaviour is not displayed. This usually gives the assumption that the person receiving the orders is made to respond in a way they usually would not have done.
Define agentic state
A mindset which allows us to carry out orders from an authoritarian figure, even if they conflict with our morals. We absolve ourselves of responsibility, believing that we are acting on someone else’s behalf, blame for any negative consequences lies with the authority.
Obedience: Agency theory (how does Milgram define it?)
Milgram (1974) said that obedience to authority is necessary for the smooth running of society. Humans live in a hierarchically organised social groups in order for these groups to function successfully, subordinate individuals sometimes have to suppress their personal desires in order to carry out the wishes of their superior.
What is moral strain?
A mental discomfort or anxiety experienced in the agentic state (acting on behalf of authority and move the responsibility to them) when a person’s actions conflict with their personal morality.
Support of the Agency theory
1) It is supported by his 1963 study, where he found that 100% of his participants would administer 300 V to a confederate as a punishment for making a mistake on a word learning task and 65% of those would administer the full 450 V (labelled dangerous) from the orders of authority, a doctor.
2) It can explain events like the Holocaust and Rwanda genocide as they were ordered by authority figures.
Weaknesses of agency theory
1) Agentic shift does not appear to be inevitable. Rank and Jacobsen’s (1977) study found that 16 out of 18 (89%) nurses failed to obey the doctors orders of administering an overdose of the drug Valium. Doctors are a source of authority but the majority remained autonomous, and the nurses considered themselves to be responsible.
2) Milgram’s research lacks ecological validity as the event of being asked to electrocute someone is unrealistic.
Application of the Agency theory
Milgram maintained that when binding factors outweigh moral strain, obedience follows. This is used in the military to reduce moral strain and increase the chance of them following orders and follow them without question. One way is to use language like ‘collateral damage’ (when you accidentally kill civilians) and dehumanising language to use against the ‘enemy’
Social impact theory: Multiplication and Division of impact
The source is depicted in yellow. The size of the yellow dots indicate the strength of the source. The closeness to the target (blue circle) indicates immediacy- The number of black rings around the target shows the amount of influence exerted- created by number, strength, and immediacy of the source.
Division- The source (yellow dots) has a reduced effect because its impact is now divided between several targets. The close the target is to the source, the less influence because the targets impact of the source.
Divisional effect explains the idea that social impact is reduced if there are more targets than there are sources, impact reduced. Shown by formula:
Impact on the target= f(1/(SIN))
Social impact theory: Sources and targets
‘social impact’ refers to the effect that real or imagined people can have on our behaviour- ‘social’ referring to the fact that the effect come from people. Developed by Bibb Latane. The person doing the influencing is the ‘source’ and the people who are influenced are the ‘targets’. ‘Source’ impacts ‘target’ through change of thoughts, feeling and action of the target.
Impacts on the target= f(SIN)
S= strength, I= immediacy, N=number of sources
Social impact theory: strength, immediacy, and number
Strength (S)= refers to the perceived power of the authority figure and the messages that they convey. Strength can be affected by socio-economic status, age and the nature if any past or future relationships with the target. Strong source= power over target.
Immediacy (I)= reflects to the closeness of the source and the target in the terms of space, but also time, Physical and psychological barriers to communication will affect immediacy.
Number (N)= relates to how many sources are present during the interaction, which determines the level of social impact.
The law of diminishing returns
Latane made a specific point about the number, saying that once the source group is bigger than three, each addition person has less of an influencing effect. Therefore, adding one extra person to a group of 52 people would have less impact than an extra person added to a group of two. Economists call this law of diminishing returns. Doesn’t mean they are less powerful, instead reduces level of impact.
Strength of Social Impact theory
Backed up by studies like Sedikides and Jackson who gave orders to visitors at the zoo - large groups were more likely to disobey, which shows division impact. The mathematical formula can be used i=f(SIN)
It is much more complex than agency theory
Weaknesses of Social Impact theory
It ignores moral strain unlike Agency theory.
It pays attention to the person giving orders and their characteristics, however it doesn’t look at the person receiving the orders
Application of social impact theory
To understand how people enhance their social influence like with politicians
Milgram’s baseline study: aims
- To understand the behaviours of Germans who played a role in the killing of over 10 million people in the Holocaust. There was the belief that the Germans were different like they were more obedient and Milgram wanted to explore this.
Milgram baseline study: procedure
He recruited a volunteer sample of 40 men aged 20-50 years old, all from New Haven, US. This was done through local newsletters and letters in the post. There were a range of non-skilled workers and professional workers. They were offered $4.50 at the time. They were told they could drop out at any time and would still keep the money. They were introduced to 2 men, one was the experimenter, a confederate of Milgram called Mr Williams. He was dressed in a technicians lab coat. They other man was also a confederate was introduced as the other participant and was referred as Mr Wallace. Lots were drawn to decide whether the real participant would be the teacher or the learner, but the participants were always given teacher.
The teacher role was to shock the learner for every mistake on the word recall task. The voltage increased by 15V each time but were fake. A real one was given to the teacher of 45V. The learner was is a sperate room the the teacher and spoke through a intercom.
Experimenter used a series of prods to get the teacher to keep going. 4 were given and if the teacher kept protesting then they were allowed to leave and they record the maximum shock it went up to. Milgram collect footage to see the participants reaction.
Milgram’s baseline study: findings
Milgram found that 65% of those went all the way to 450V and 100% went to 350V. Although 12.5% of the sample dropped out. Participants were observed to tremble, sweat, bite their lips and digging fingernails into their flesh. 35% exhibited nervous laughter. 3 participants have full blown seizures.
Milgram’s baseline study: conclusion
Milgram’s findings show that Americans are obedient to perceived authority figures. This could be due to the perceived competence and knowledge/reputation the of the researcher and the idea that the participants were somehow advancing science.
Strengths of Milgram study’s
A strength is that the procedure was standardised so every participant had the same experience. This makes it reliable and is shows with Burger who was able to replicate the experiment.
Another strength is that they gathered both quantitative and qualitative data. This means that they were able to find patterns as well as gather unexpected detail or find rich detail about the participants.
Weaknesses of Milgram’s study
One weakness is that it is not generalisable. They only used men in a certain age group from a certain culture, the US. Different cultures, ages, and genders may respond differently to obedience. This is not representative.
Another weakness is that is lacks ecological validity. This task is not something that is usually asked. It was also carried out in an artificial laboratory experiment, therefore findings cannot be generalised to real life. The artificial environment may make people give desired characteristics.
Application of Milgram’s study
The application is that it is used in pilot training. Tarnow describes how first officers often fail to monitor and challenge errors made by the captain due to his/her legitimate authority. Tarnow believes that if training first officers were to challenge the authority of the pilot then it could prevent up to 20% of plane crashes. Training led to better cockpit behaviour and potentially save lives.
Milgram’s variation: Experiment 10, Rundown office black
Many of Milgram’s participants said that the prestigious university setting led them to trust the integrity of the study. Milgram moved the experiment to a rundown office block in the downtown shopping district. Participants were told that this study was being done by a private firm, conducting research for industry. The study found that 47.5% of participants were fully obedient. Interview transcript found that they were doubtful about the legitimacy of the study. The rundown setting reduce legitimacy of the researcher. However the link to ‘scientific research’ seemed to be enough to still encourage relatively high levels of obedience.
Milgram’s variation: Experiment 7, Telephonic instructions
The ‘experimenter’ gave instructions over the telephone. Milgram states that only 9 out of 40 (22.5%) were fully obedient under these circumstances. Participants also lied on the phone, saying they were raising the shock level when they weren’t and often repeatedly administers the lowest shock level on the machine. Participants seemed to find it easier to resist authority figures in this passive way than openly challenge the authority figure. When the researcher came back into the room, the participants were obedient again. The physical presence of the authority figures is an important situational factor that increases obedience and reduces dissent.
