Social Influence Flashcards
Procedure of Milgram’s study?
40 ppts aged 20-50
Ppts were always picked as the teachers and confederate was the learner.
Ppts had to zap the learner when provided with a wrong answer.
Every wrong answer resulted in +15 volts and it went up to 450 from 15v start.
In voice Feedback study, learner would shout and try to withdraw after 300v had been administered. Would then proceed to remain quiet after 315v to signify death or unconsciousness.
When ppt wanted to stop, the researcher had a series of prods to say as to encourage the ppt to go further.
What were the findings of Milgram’s study?
65% obeyed the researcher and went all the way up to 450v.
40% obeyed when in the same room as the learner.
30% obeyed when they had to place learner’s hand on the shock plate.
21% obeyed when experimenter gave orders through phone and wasn’t physically present.
48% obeyed when in a run down office.
Bushman found that 72% obeyed in HIS study when his researchers would be dressed up in police-style clothing.
What were the 3 situational variables?
Proximity, Location and Power of uniform.
Situational Variables of Obedience AO3 - Limitation doubters
Ppts distrusted experimenters because they knew the true purpose was being disguised. Many of the ppts were skeptical of whether the shocks administered were even real and a research assistant separated the doubters from the believers of the authenticity of the shocks and found that the doubters were more likely to disobey. This challenges the validity of the study and suggests that when faced with reality of destructive obedience they are more likely to disobey an authority figure.
Situational Variables of Obedience AO3 - Limitation Location and obedience rates.
Milgram’s subjects were more likely to obey as they knew they were in an experiment. In a lab setting, the experimenter acts as representative of science and so 65% obedience rate was not as surprising as the other 35% non obedient people. In contrast to lab studies, real life obedience to authority is hard to achieve and can be seen in the Rwandan Genocide - we must be cautious about drawing broad generalisation from Milgram.
Situational Variables of Obedience AO3 - Strength Historical validity.
Milgram’s research still applied today. Resarcher carried out an analysis of obedience studies over the span of 20 years and found that later studies had no more or less obedience than the ones carried earlier. Recent study found almost identical levels of obedience to Milgram’s. This suggests that Milgram’s study has historical validity and applied even today.
What is the agentic state?
Common way of thinking for obedient individuals as not being resp. for their own actions but rather attributing that resp. to someone with authority.
Common way of thinking for obedient individuals as not being resp. for their own actions but rather attributing that resp. to someone with authority.
Agentic state
What is the agentic shift?
Movement from autonomous to Agentic state.
Why do people adopt the agentic state?
Need to maintain positive self-image. Actions made under the agentic state are guilt-free.
What is the first condition needed for a person to shift into the A gentic state?
Perception of legitimacy of authority.
What is required for someone to be viewed as a legitimate authority figure?
They must be within some sort of institutional structure.
Agentic state and Legitimacy of authority AO3 - Limitation Auschwitz doctors.
Milgram’s claim that ppl shift back and forth between autonomous and agentic shift may deem invalid since a study of German doctors at Auschwitz found very gradual and irreversible transition where they broke their own ethical methods of work to being able to carry out vile and potentially lethal experiments. Researcher suggested that this was rather the result of prolonged experience of carrying out evil acts over time rather than an agentic shift.
Agentic state and Legitimacy of authority AO3 - Limitation Chance to demonstrate cruelty without resp.
Agentic shift may be used as an explanation to hide inner cruelty. In Milgram’s study, it was found there was some cruelty among ppt’s who used situation to express it. In the SPE, we also see the guards inflicting curelty when there was no authority figure instructing them to do so. Suggests that while for some people obedience may be explained in terms of agentic shift, for others obedient behaviour might be due to fundamental desire to cause harm.
What was the F scale?
It was used to identify the authoritarian personality. Made by Adorno et al. Adorno found that people who scored highly on the F scale tended to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian parenting style.
