Social Influence: obedience Flashcards
Definition of obedience
Obedience is the following of orders from someone of higher authority. When we obey an order, we do as we are told.
Define destructive obedience
When we are ordered to do something immoral we tend to obey, even if this causes us distress and we regret it later.
Aim of Milgrams study
The participants thought that the aim of experiment was to investigate the effects of punishment on memory.
However, the real aim of the experiment was to see if people would obey the orders of an authority figure, even when there were fatal consequences
Milgram sample and procedure
Sample → 40 American men from the new Haven area between the ages of 20-50 (range of educational and occupational backgrounds) volunteered to take part. Paid $4 (+50c for travel).
Volunteer introduced to another participant (actually confederate): Mr. Neill Wallace. He chatted with the ppt beforehand and said he was an accountant but had been out of work for a while due to having a heart attack 6 months ago.
Drew lots to see who would be the ‘teacher’ (T) and who would be the ‘learner’ (L) - this was fixed so the ppt was always the T and Mr. Wallace was always the L.
They had another confederate play the role of ‘Experimenter’ (E).
T was in a room with the E, but the L was in an adjoining room; the T couldn’t see the L, but they thought they could hear them (it was actually a recording).
T had to give the L an electric shock every time the L made a mistake on a memory task. The shocks increased by 15V with each mistake, up to 450V (30 switches in total).
The shocks were fake, but labelled to suggest they were increasingly dangerous.
If the teacher (the participant) expressed concern to the experimenter about the task and the welfare of the learner, the experimenter had four responses (prods):
Prod 1: Please continue.
Prod 2: The experiment requires you to continue.
Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue.
Prod 4: You have no other choice but to continue.
Finding of milgrams study
Quantitative data:
Every participant delivered all the shocks up to 300V
12.5% (five pps) stopped at 300V (‘intense shock’)
65% continued to the highest level: 450V - i.e., they were fully obedient
Qualitative data (observations):
Participants showed signs of extreme tension, many of them were seen to ‘sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan and dig their fingernails into their hands’; three even had ‘full-blown uncontrollable seizure.’
Conclusions of milgrams study
Germans are not ‘different’.
American participants were willing to obey orders even when they might harm another person, as pps gave electric shocks to a learner when told to do so by the authority figure.
Suspected there were certain factors in the situation that encouraged obedience, so decided to conduct further studies to investigate these.
Situational variables affecting obedience tested by milgram?
Milgram decided to test a number of variations to his study by changing specific aspects to see if the rates of obedience alter. In total, he studied 18 different variations (so he conducted 19 studies including his original).
As a result, he identified three main factors that affect obedience levels:
1.Loss of uniform (or legitimacy)
2.Location
3.Proximity (close proximity vs. remote authority)
Describe what happened in milgrams variation (uniform)
LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE = 20%
In his original experiment, the confederate playing the role of the experimenter wore a grey lab coat, emphasising their authoritative status.
Within this variation, the experimenter was called away at the beginning and replaced by who appeared to be an ordinary member of the public, as they weren’t wearing the lab coat.
This is largely because…
Uniforms ‘encourage’ obedience as they are widely recognised as symbols of authority. They are legitimate signs of authority
Therefore, if someone is wearing a uniform we expect they are entitled to obedience as their authority is legitimate.
Someone without a uniform has less right to expect our obedience.
Describe what happened in milgrams variation (location)
LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE = 47.5%
In his original experiment, the study took place in the prestigious Yale University, Connecticut.
In this variation, the study was conducted in a rundown office block in nearby Bridgeport.
This is largely because…
The prestigious university environment gave Milgram’s study legitimacy of authority. Yale University was respected and awed by participants, so this led to them perceiving the experiment as legitimate
The decreased obedience in the run-down office block (which has far less prestige and legitimacy), may have encouraged Pt’s to Q the procedure
Describe what happened in milgrams variation (close proximity)
LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE = 40%
In the original experiment, the learner was in a separate room to the teacher (the ppt), the ppt could only hear them.
Within this variation, the learner was moved into the same room as the teacher and the experimenter, so they could see and hear them.Milgram also took this variation one stop further…
When they reached 150V, the learner removed their hand from the plate. The experimenter instructed the teacher to place the learner’s hand on the plate and keep it there whilst administering the shock.LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE = 30%
This is largely because…
Decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions as they cannot see the harm they were causing another person. When its closer, they are forced to take more responsibility for their actions
Describe what happened in milgrams variation (remote authority)
LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE = 20.5%
In the original experiment, the teacher was in the same room as the experimenter.
Within this variation, the experimenter left the room and gave instructions by telephone.
This is largely because…
With the authority figure in the same room they are more likely to obey due to the immediacy of legitimate authority.
However, if the authority figure is absent, the individual has more flexibility to get out of the agentic state and be in a more autonomous state.
What are the two explanations for obedience?
- The agentic state
2.The legitimacy of authority
Define the agentic state with Milgam example
The individual gives up their free will and no longer sees themselves as acting independently, but merely as an ‘agent’ implementing someone else’s decisions.
We surrender our conscience and become an instrument for authority.
EXAMPLE → Pt’s in Milgram’s experiment were acting as agents of the experimenter and carrying out their orders, they can try to convince themselves that they are ultimately not responsible.
Explain moral strain as a knock on effect of the agentic state
Milgram proposed that someone in an agentic state will experience moral strain, i.e.:
Feeling uncomfortable / distressed as a consequence of going against your own conscience and doing something you know to be wrong.
This is a consequence of being in the agentic state. From Milgram’s study it was clear that many Pt’s in the experiment experienced moral strain.
How do people often cope with moral strain?
People often employ psychological defence mechanisms to reduce their individual anxieties. For example…
-Repression → a type of psychological defense mechanism that involves keeping certain thoughts, feelings, or urges out of conscious awareness.
-Denial → as seen by many former Nazi soldiers who simply denied the holocaust ever occurred.
