Social Influence- Obedience to Authority Flashcards
What was Milgram’s study?
- Laboratory experiment
- 40 American men participants responded to newspaper adverts for a study on ‘learning and memory’
- Received payment for participating
- Drew lots to decide who was teacher and learner, draw was fixed so participant was always teacher and confederate was always learner
- Confederate connected to a shock generator
- Shocks weren’t real but participants believed they were
- Started at 15V and went to 450V
- When learner answered incorrectly, level of shock was increased
- Experimenter told participants to continue i9f they hesitated
- After 300V, learner made no further responses
What were the results of Milgram’s study?
- 65% administered 450V
- All administered 300V
- Most showed signs of stress
What was the conclusion of Milgram’s study?
People will obey orders even if they’re going against their conscience
How did social support affect obedience?
When there were 3 teachers, participant was less likely to obey if others resisted
How did proximity affect obedience?
Dropped to 40% when learner was in same room and 30% when teacher had to put learner’s hand onto shock plate
How did proximity to authority affect obedience?
Dropped to 23% when experimenter gave prompts over the phone as orders were easier to resist
How did location affect obedience?
Dropped to 23% when was no longer in prestigious location
What is the agentic state?
When people behave on behalf of an external authority- acting as an agent and feel no personal responsibility for their actions
What is the autonomous state?
Acting freely, opposite of agentic state
How does the agency theory (agentic state) affect obedience?
If someone feels that they are not responsible for their own actions then they are more likely to obey
How is the effect of the agentic state seen in Milgram’s study?
When the experimenter took responsibility for the learner, the teacher was happy to continue
What is the agentic shift?
Moving from the autonomous state to the agentic state
What are binding factors?
Aspects of a situation that keep someone in the agentic state
What is legitimacy of authority?
We are socialised to accept that certain people have legitimate authority (parents, police officers, doctors, teachers)
Where does legitimate authority come from?
Having a defined social role which people respect
