Social Influence: Situational Variables

Question 1

what’s proximity?

Answer 1

the physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving orders to.

Question 2

how did proximity affect obedience?

Answer 2

when the teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience dropped from 65% to 40%. when the teacher had to force the learners hand onto a electroshock plate, obedience dropped to 30%

Question 3

what’s location?

Answer 3

the place where the order is issued, the relevant factor that influences obedience is the status and prestige associated with the location.

Question 4

how does location affect obedience?

Answer 4

Milgram conducted the study in a run-down building, where the experimenter had less authority. obedience fell to 47.5%.

Question 5

what’s uniform?

Answer 5

people in positions of authority often have special outfits that symbolise their authority. this indicates who is entitled to respect our obedience.

Question 6

how did uniform affect obedience?

Answer 6

Milgram’s variation, the experimenter got called away because of an inconvenient phone call. the role got taken over by an ‘ordinary member of the public’. obedience dropped to 20%.

Question 7

what’s the research support of Milgram’s variations? (A03)

Answer 7

Bickham did a field study in NYC where he had 3 confederates dressed in different outfits - jacket and tie, milkman’s outfit and security guard costume. they stood in the street and asked passers-by to perform tasks (litter picking, coin for parking meter). people were 2x more likely to obey the security guard than the jacket and tie. this supports Milgram’s conclusion that uniform conveys authority.

Question 8

how does Milgram’s variations lack internal validity? (A03)

Answer 8

Orne + Holland’s criticism was that participants knew the shocks were fake. it’s even more likley in the variations with the extra manipulation. using a ‘member of the public’ may give it away to participants and make them realise the truth. this is a limitation as it’s unclear whether the results are genuinely due to obedience or because participants saw through deception.

Question 9

what’s cross-cultural replication? (A03)

Answer 9

Milgram’s variations have been replicated in other cultures. Miranda found obedience rates of over 90% in spanish students. this suggests Milgram’s conclusions are not limited to American males but are valid across cultures. However, Smith and Bond make a crucial point that most replications have taken place in Western societies that are vastly different from USA, so it’s premature to assume his findings are applied to people everywhere