social psychology -obedience Flashcards
aim of Milgrams og study
to test how for ordinary people would go when being ordered to give electric shocks.This was to test his Germans are different hypothesis.
procedure of milgram
-40 American men aged 20-50 were recruited via a volunteer sample through a newspaper ad stating there was an experiment about human learning at yale university where people would be paid for their time.
-ppts were split into teachers and learners through a rggged draw where a confederate would be the learner who would be tested on word pairs that the teacher read out.
-the ppts witnessed the leaner being strapped to a chair and were given a real 45v shock themselves.
-they were told when learners gave the wrong answer they would be given an electric shock ranging from 15-450v-increasing in increments of 15v.If the teacher refused verbal prods were given like ‘the experiment requires you to continue’
-at 300v the learner banged on the wall then went silent.
results of milgram
100% of participants (teacher) administered a shock at 300 volts.
65% of participants administered a shock at 450 volts.
signs of distress were also seen like sweating, nervous laughter, digging nails into skin
conclusion of milgrams og study
ordinary people obey orders from an authority figure in extreme conditions even if they feel uncomfortable doing so.
aim of milgrams variation 7-telephone instructions
-aim was to see if proximity impacted obedience levels
procedure of v7
40 ppts and study continued as og with 45v shock and rigged draw ect
-after giving initial instructions experimenter left ppt with shock generator and telephone, if the teacher had any questions they would have to call the experimenter and any prods were delivered over the phone
results of v7
-obedience fell from 65% to 22.5% as ppts lied about increasing voltage and continued giving low level shocks.
conclusion of v7
proximity impacts obedience
aim of milgrams variation 10-run down office block
-aim was to see if changing location from prestigious yale would impact obedience
Procedure of milgrams v10
-40ppts were recruited through post
-the experiment was moved to a small commercial office in brigeport and was carried out in a sparesly furnished room
-ppts were told the experiment was being conducted by a private comapny
-the rest continued like og
results of milgrams v10
48% to 450v ppts also questioned priv company credentials
Conclusion of milgrams v10
Perceived authority impacts obedience
aim of milgrams v13 - ordinary man
to study power relations on obedience.See if ppts would obey an ordinary dressed man
procedure of v13
-there were 20 ppts
-3 ppts 2 were confederates arrived and did rigged draw extra confederate was given job to write down times ect
-strapped leaner to chair but didnt tell teacher to increase level of shocks to give
-the experimenter recieved phone call and left room.He said the teacher should keep practicing words
-the 2nd confederate suggested increasing voltage everytime learner got one wrong.
results of v13
-20%=450v 16/20 refused
-the 16 were taken into a second part where the 2nd confederate suggested swapping places so they could give the shocks
-all 16 protested 5 physically restrained the confederate
conclusion of v13
Perceived authority affects obedience
strengths of milgram
-standardised procedures e.g each ppt received same prompts this means study is reliable
-lab study so also has lots of control over EVs =more valid
-less chance of demand characteristics as ppts thought study was on learning
-men were from a range of backgrounds and jobs=more diverse=more rep=more gen
weakness of milgram
-many ethical guidelines broken-right to withdrawal ,informed consent ,protection from harm
-lab study lacks ecological validity
-giving shocks is low in mundane realisim
-sample was ethnocentric and androcentric so isnt generalisable to women or any men outside the US
what 4 situational factors affect obedience
-momentum of compliance-start with small trival requests and slowly increase them
-proximity
-status of authority figure
-personal responsibility
what individual differences affect obedience
-empathy
-authoritarian personality
-locus of control
what is an authoritarian personality
typically more submissive to authority figures so would be more likely to comply with requests from an authority figure.Characteristics include hostile to those seen as inferior, upholder of conventional values ,rigid and inflexible
a03?
evidence authoritarian personality affects obedience
-adorno created an f scale which was a questionnaire to identify authoritarian personality
-milgram and elms compared f scales for 20 obedient ppts and 20 disobedient ppts in one of milgrams studies .They found f scores were higher in obedient ppts
what is a locus of control
-those with an internal locus of control believe they are responsible for their own actions so are less influenced by others.They may have a high desire for control so will be less likely to obey
-those with an external locus of control are more influenced by authority figures , they believe things occur due to things like fate
evidence locus of control affects obedience
from some of milgrams variations obedient and disobedient ppts were asked to judge their relative responsibility for giving shocks.They found disobedient ppts judged themselves to be more responsible for the experiment.
what is empathy how does this influence obedience
ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.So should be less likely to harm another person due to instructions from an authority figure.
evidence empathy does not influence obedience
Burger found although those who score high on empathy protested about giving the shocks more still delivered maximum shock
how does gender influence obedience
individuals develop a sense of gender identity through socialisation.Gender stereotypes affect how we perceive ourselves and others, such as women being seen to be more obedient.This may because of gender roles of women being peacemakers
what did milgrams studys show about obedience and gender
in milgrams variations using women there was no difference in obedience levels the only difference was women displayed higher levels of axiety
what was sheridan and kings study
-adapted milgrams experiment to use a live puppy as the victim of electric shocks
-all of the female college students gave max shock and were very compliant whereas the men in the study did not fully obey
what are the 2 types of cultures
-individualistic cultures tend to behave more independently ,they work towards their own goals rather than what will benefit the group
-collectivist cultures tend to behave more cooperatively meaning compliance is important for the group so they are more likely to be obedient
what did smith and bond find about culture and obedience
-found people belonging to individualistic cultures are more likely to behave independently and are more concerned with independent success than group wellbeing
-than those in collectivist cultures where group decision making is highly valued
what did blass find about culture and obedience
blass conducted meta analysis looking at replications of milgrams study in many countries but found little differences in obedience
what is agency theory
-we as humans have evolved into an agentic state where we obey authority in order to prevent conflict for example being told to not talk back to teachers
-we have an autonomous state where we are responsible for our own behaviour so we feel guilt for what we do
-when asked to do something by an authority figure that we dont actually want to do we feel moral strain where pressure/guilt builds until we are pushed into the agentic shift by the authority figure
-in the agentic state we become agents of authority as we obey anything they tell us to do as we no longer feel personal responsibility for our actions as blame is displaced onto the authority figure
strengths of agency theory
-supported by milgrams study as we see ppts experience all stages,autonomous state when they volunteered for the experiment,moral strain through nervous laughter and nail biting we then see the autonomous state as 65% =450v
-useful as allows us to better understand atrocities like the holocaust for example many gaurds in concentrtation camps stated they were simply following orders rather then feeling responsibility this has real life application as we know we have to avoid an agentic state
weaknesses of agency theory
-issues with milgrams research-small sample,lab study
-ignores individual differences like authoritarian personality which could impact obedience e.g authoritarian personality
-problems with empiricism as agentic and autonmous states of mind are complex to measure and see ,there has been little brain scan evidence to show these are true traits so theory may not be cred
-reductionist to split a complex behaviour like obedience into 4 simple stages so theory may be too simple to explain obedience
key concept of social impact theory
peoples behaviour is influenced by social forces
what are the 3 main components of sit
-strength-this is how much power you believe the person influencing you has e.g if they have legitimate authority their orders have more strength
-immediacy-this is how recent the order was given and how close the person was to you when giving the order
-numbers-the more people putting pressure on you to do something the more social impact they will have
what is the psychosocial law
each new person increases the impact but each additional person has less impact then the person before them
what is the multiplicative effect
-the impact of S,I and N together is more than just one or 2
what is the divisional effect
the more targets there are to impact the harder it is for the source as their strength is divided by the number of sources
strengths of social impact theory
-supported by milgrams variations run down office block and ordinary man variations show how when the strength of a source is compromised the social force is lowered .Also telephone instructions show how immediacy effects obedience
-supported by milgram,brown and berkowitz-had confederates look up at a high floor of a building ,the more people were looking up the more stoppers by stopped to do the same however there was a decrease in their impact this supports psychosocial law and numbers
-useful explaining atsocities like mai lai massacre as soilders who were given orders over the radio did not follow orders as such as those face to face
weakness of social impact theory
-ignores individual differences e.g authoritarian personality so not a complete explaination of obedience
-conflicted by mullen conducted research and found strength and immediacys effect were not consistent in their effects so may not be valid
-reductionist to boil down obedience to a simple formula
