Obedience

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

The performance of an action in response to direct orders from an authority figure or person of higher status

Question 2

Who came up with the obedience experiment?

Answer 2

Milgram

Question 3

Outline the methods of Milgrams experiment

Answer 3

• Participants told they were involved in a study about the effects of punishment on learning, with a payout after the experiment
• The real participants were asking questions and giving fake electrical shocks to an actor who would pretent to be in pain when shocked
• The real participants were told to give out a shock and raise the voltage for every wrong answer up to 450 volts, by then the actor would have gone silent

Question 4

What were the results of Milgrams experiment?

Answer 4

• 65% of participants continued to 450 volts
• All participants gave 300 volts

Question 5

Explain the 3 factors that influenced obedience in Milgrams experiment

Answer 5

• Proximity to victim: If the participant could see the actor, obedience dropped
• Proximity to experimenter: Removing the experimenter from the room decreased obedience
• Authority of experimenter: If the experimenter looked proffesional (in a lab coat) or casual

Question 6

What were 4 conclusions of Milgrams experiment?

Answer 6

People will be more obedient if they:
- Believe the authority figure is legitimate

• Are commited to the success of the experiment
• Have a lack of a disobedient role model (someone to follow in the act of disobedience)
• Have a lack of personal responsibility (authority figure or someone else accepts all consequences)

Question 7

Why is conformity and obedience good in society?

Answer 7

Needed to create social relationships and maintain social norms