Social behaviour- obedience and apathy

Question 1

What is the white coat halo effect?

Answer 1

People are more likely to be obedient to someone in a white coat. The ‘white coat halo’ = medical training, knowledge, caring, confidentiality, emotional and sexual detachment, power and authority.

Question 2

What did Milgram test?

Answer 2

Milgram: tested obedience - ordinary people following orders of scientist in white coat. Ordered to give electric shock to another participant - 63% proceeded to giving the full shock voltage. Predicted behaviour was disobedience at a much lower voltage compared to actual behaviour. Replicated with similar results.

Question 3

What is the MHRC encounter?

Answer 3

-9 genuine participants per panel
-legal case – company vs individual
-discussion, role playing, signing permissions
• only 4/33 panels all group signed agreed the businessman could use the recordings
• Majority of the panels disobeyed
• key difference to Milgram? -number of naïve participants 1 in the room vs 9

Question 4

What is the law of social impact? Who came up with it?

Answer 4

Law of social impact – Latané
Social impact is determined by…
• Number – how many are disobeying/protesting
• Strength of influence – uniform, seniority
• Immediacy – whether the influence is present in the room

Question 5

What is bystander apathy?

Answer 5

Bystander apathy – shown in murder of Kitty Genovese- nobody intervened when she was screaming for help after being stabbed
If others aren’t responding it isn’t an emergency, responsibility is diffused to all bystanders, audience inhibition (scared of embarrassment), ambiguity of the situation, personality, personal threat or cost of intervention

Question 6

What are the social processes in emergencies?

Answer 6

1.	social definition
•	others not responding, no emergency
2.	diffusion of responsibility
•	alone = sole responsibility
•	part of group = transfer the responsibility
3.	audience inhibition
•	self-conscious in presence of others
•	fear of social blunder – just a joke?

Question 7

What are the non-social factors in response to an emergency?

Answer 7

1. ambiguity of the situation- playing or being attacked?
2. personality
3. personal threat/cost of intervention- will they turn on me?