social influence milgram's experiment (situational variables )

Question 1

what are situational variables

Answer 1

After Stanley Milgram conducted his 1st study on obedience, he carried out a large number of variations in order to consider situation variables that might create or lesser obedience

Question 2

what are the situational variables

Answer 2

There are several factors that (Milgram) believed influenced level of obedience

all of these related to external factors(not internal e.g. personality)

• proximity
• location
• uniform

Question 3

what was the percentage of obedience for the baseline study

Answer 3

the percentage or obedience for the baseline study at Yale university = 65%

Question 4

what are the percentage of obedience for the different situational variables

Answer 4

change of location in a run down office = 47.5%

teacher forces learner hand onto plate (proximity) = 30%

experimenter played by “member of public” (uniform) = 20%

teacher and learner are in the same room = 40%

experimenter gave orders by phone = 20.5%

Question 5

describe how the situational variable proximity affected the obedience of participants

Answer 5

In the original study the learner and teacher were in adjoining rooms so the teacher could hear the learner but not see him

In the proximity variation, when the teacher and learner were in the same room from baseline 65% to 40%

A more dramatic (proximity) variation the teacher forced the learner’s hand onto an “electroshock” when he refused to answer a question - touch proximity. The obedience rate dropped further to 30%

In third proximity variation the experimenter left the room and gave instructions to he teacher by telephone (remote instructions condition) . Obedience reduced to 20.5%. The participants also frequently pretended to give shocks or gave weaker ones than they were ordered to

Question 6

how does the situational variable location affect the obedience level of the participants

Answer 6

another kind of variation in Milgram’s original experiment is the location. The location changed form a prestigious university setting to a run down building.
The experimenter had less authority. Obedience fell to 47.5%. This is still quite a high level of obedience but it is less than the original 65% in the original baseline study

Question 7

how does the situational variable uniform affect the obedience level of the participants

Answer 7

In the baseline study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat as a symbol of his authority ( a kind of uniform).

Another variation is that the experimenter was called away because of an “inconvenient telephone” and they were called right at the start of the procedure.

The role of the experimenter was taken over by an “ordinary member of the public” (played by a confederate) in everyday clothes. The obedience rate dropped to 20% - lowest of these variation