SOCIAL INFLUENCE - Milgram (1963) Obedience Study

Question 1

What were the aims of the Milgram’s obedience study?

Answer 1

To investigate the level of obedience participants would show when an authority figure tells them to administer (fatal) electric shocks to another person.

Question 2

How did Milgram prepare for the obedience study?

Answer 2

Adverts were put up around Yale University for male participants to take part in a study about ‘effects of punishment on learning’ (volunteer sampling)

Question 3

How many participants took part in the Milgram’s obedience study?

Answer 3

40 male participants

Question 4

How much were the participants of the study paid?

Answer 4

$4 an hour

Question 5

What were the first steps in this study?

Answer 5

• The participant was to be ‘randomly’ chosen as the ‘teacher’ and the ‘learner’ was a confederate who went by the name ‘Mr Wallace’. This person was always visible in the other room by the participant with electrodes attached to his arms.

Question 6

What were the 4 prods used by the researcher in the study?

Answer 6

• ‘Please continue’
• ‘The experiment requires that you continue’
• ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’
• ‘You have no choice, you must go on’

Question 7

What were the results of the Milgram Study?

Answer 7

• All participants shocked Mr Wallace up to 300 volts (DANGER)
• 65% of participants shocked all the way up to 450 volts (💀)
• 14 participants defied the experimenter and 26 obeyed
• Many participants showed signs of nervousness and tension
• After the experiment, 84% of participants reported that they were glad they took part in the experiment.

Question 8

How many participants shocked till 300 volts in the Milgram (1963) Obedience Study?

Answer 8

All of them

Question 9

What percentage of participants shocked all the way up to 450 volts in the Milgram (1963) Obedience Study?

Answer 9

65%

Question 10

What conclusions were made after the Milgram (1963) Obedience Study?

Answer 10

Ordinary people will obey authority even if their actions may be detrimental and therefore willing to inflict lethal shocks to another man.

Question 11

What was the researcher/ scientist wearing during this study?

Answer 11

The researcher wore a grey labcoat and spoke in a firm tone.

Question 12

What was the highest and lowest amount of electricity ‘administered’ to Mr Wallace?

Answer 12

• The participant was presented with a box with a row of switches marked from 15 volts (slight shock) to 375 volts (Danger) to 450 volts (Skull)
• The participant was under the impression that the box would actually administer shocks to Mr Wallace

Question 13

What are some of the limitations of this study?

Answer 13

• The sample is unrepresentative as all of the participants were white American males. Therefore results cannot be generalised to women or other cultures.
• Lack of informed consent and were deceived about the true aim of the study.
• No protection from psychological harm (many participants became hysterical and distressed as they thought they had killed Mr Wallace).

Question 14

What is the advantage of this study?

Answer 14

• Despite ethical issues, a cost- benefit analysis (weighing the harm from a study against the knowledge gained) concluded that the study was worthwhile and 84% of participants confessed they were happy to have taken part.