variations of Milgrams, situational explanations for obedience Flashcards
how many variations of Milgrams study are there?
4
-proximity
-location
-uniform
-two teacher condition
describe the proximity variation.
they changed it twice:
-once where the teacher was given orders over the phone
21% obeyed
-the other was when the teacher and student were in the same room
40% obeyed
CONFORMITY DROPS WHEN THE AUTHORITY FIGURE IS NOT FACE TO FACE.
Describe the location variation.
They moved the experiment to a run-down office block and the researcher wore jeans and a t-shirt.
48% of pp obeyed
It was found that conformity decreased when the authority figure has less legitimate power.
Describe the uniform variation.
They researcher was “taking away bc of a phone call” and replaced with a casual member of the public (a confederate) who wore normal clothes and no lab coat.
20% of pp obeyed
Describe the two teacher condition variation.
Pp could instruct a confederate (assistant) to deliver the shock. Obedience increased when there is less personal responsibility.
92.5% of pp obeyed
Evaluate Milgrams original study and variations.
+ practical applications, his research helped us understand why the Nazi’s were able to kill so many people
+ good methodology, it was a lab study with high levels of control which also made it easier to establish cause and effect
+ research evidence, Bickman also look at the effect of uniform on obedience using a security guard and a milkman
- lacked internal validity, Orne and Holland said that the pp were likely to see that the experiment was fake with the variations
- ethical issues, deception was used bc they didnt share the true nature of the experiment
What are the two social-psychological explanations for obedience
-agentic state
-legitimate authority
Evaluate the agentic state.
+Milgrams research supports this theory
+we can apply this theory to real life situations
- human cruelty may be a better explanation
-social power can also be used as a explanation
- the theory describes obedience more that explaning
describe the legitimate authority.
pp are less likely to conform when the authority figure seems to have less legitimate power.
evaluate the legitimate authority.
+Tarnow (2000) is supporting research. they looked at black box’s from planes and found that the efficiency of the flight crew depended on the captains authority.
+ i can be used to explain real-life obedience, Kelman and Hamilton used it to explain behaviours in the Vietnam war.
- other explanations can be used. for example, gradual commitment is when people start by obeying a simple task and then find it harder to resist more serious ones.
-it may be used to justify harming others.
