Social Influence - Obedience

Question 1

What year did Milgram carry out his study of conformity?

Answer 1

1963

Question 2

Milgram (1963) aim

Answer 2

To understand how far people would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person.

Question 3

Milgram (1963) method

Answer 3

• 40 volunteers were recruited for a controlled experiment investigating “learning”.
• Ppts were aged between 20-50 years old and their jobs ranged from unskilled to professional.
• As each volunteer arrived at Milgram’s lab, they were introduced to another ppt (a confederate named Mr Wallace) and they drew lots to see who would be the teacher and who would be the learner. Draw was fixed so that the naïve ppt was always the teacher.
• There was also an experimenter, who was also a confederate, dressed in a grey lab coat.
• The learner (Mr Wallace) was strapped to a chair and wired with electrodes.
• Learner had to remember a pair of words, every time he made an error, the Teacher gave him a strong electric shock.
• The voltage of the shock increased with each error, starting from 15V they went up to 450V.
• When the teacher got to 300V, the Learner pounded on the wall, then gave no response to the next question.
• There were four verbal prompts given to the Teacher (ppt) when they hesitated or refused to give the shock. E.g. “Please continue” and “you have no other choice but to continue”.

Question 4

Milgram (1963) findings

Answer 4

• 100% of ppts delivered all the shocks up to 300V.
• 65% continued to the highest level of 450V.
• The ppts also showed signs of extreme tension, e.g. sweating, shaking, and few even had uncontrollable seizures.

Question 5

Milgram (1963) conclusion

Answer 5

• He concluded that people would be willing to obey orders even when it involved harming another person.

Question 6

Identify the three situational variables of obedience that Milgram studied.

Answer 6

Proximity
Location
Uniform

Question 7

Explain how Milgram investigated proximity.

Answer 7

Three variations…

PROXIMITY VARIATION: Teacher and Learner were in the same room, obedience dropped from 65% to 40%.

TOUCH PROXIMITY VARIATION: Teacher had to force Learner’s hand onto an ‘electroshock plate’ when he refused to answer a question. Obedience dropped further to 30%

REMOTE INSTRUCTION VARIATION: Experimenter left the room and gave instructions to the Teacher by telephone. Obedience reduced to 20.5%.

Question 8

How does decreased proximity affect obedience?

Answer 8

Decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions.

Question 9

Explain how Milgram investigated location.

Answer 9

Milgram changed the location of the obedience study.

He conducted a variation in a run-down building rather than the prestigious university setting where it was originally conducted (Yale University). Obedience levels fell to 47.5%.

Question 10

Why did location affect obedience?

Answer 10

The prestigious university environment gave Milgram’s study legitimacy and authority. Participants were more obedient in this location because they perceived that the ‘Experimenter’ in the study shared this legitimacy and that obedience was expected.

Question 11

Explain how Milgram investigated uniform.

Answer 11

• Experimenter was called away because of a phone call right at the start of the procedure. — The role of the experimenter was then taken over by an ‘ordinary member of the public’ ( a confederate) in everyday clothes rather than a lab coat.
• The obedience level dropped to 20%, the lowest of the variations.

Question 12

Why did uniform affect obedience?

Answer 12

Uniforms ‘encourage’ obedience because they are widely recognised symbols of authority. We accept that someone in a uniform is entitled to expect obedience because their authority is legitimate (i.e. it is granted by society). Someone without a uniform has less right to expect obedience.