What is obedience
A type of social influence which causes a person to act in response to an order given by another person. The person who gives the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when one doesn’t obey orders.
What was Milgram’s baseline study
40 male participants witnessed confederate being strapped into chair and attached to a shock generator in a different room they then went into a different room and were told to administer shocks switches that varied from 15V to 450V when an incorrect answer was given from the learner (confederate) if the participant showed hesitation the experimenter told them to continue.
Results of Milgram’s baseline study
-26/40 (65%) administered max (450v) and none stopped before 300v
-most participants showed signs of stress like sweating, groaning and trembling.
Conclusions of milgrams study
-Ordinary people will obey orders to hurt someone else, even if it means acting against their conscience.
-It is not necessarily evil people who commit evil crimes but ordinary people obeying orders.
Support for Milgram’s study
Sheridan and King-asked participants to give electric shocks to a puppy.
-54% of males administered max voltage
-100% of women administered max voltage
How did proximity effect the results of Milgram’s study
-When the teacher and learner are in the same room, obedience drops.
-one condition required the teacher to place the learners hand on an electroshock plate (touch proximity) obedience dropped.
-experimenter left the room and gave the instructions over telephone, obedience dropped.
How did the location of the experiment effect the results of Milgram’s study
65% obedience rate at prestigious setting-Yale university.
47.5% obedience rate at run down office building.
-Obedience rate fell due to differences in reputation.
How did the uniform of the experimenter effect the results of Milgram’s study
When the experimenter wore a lab coat-65% obedience rate
When experimenter wore normal clothes-20% obedience rate
-Uniform alters obedience levels due to professionalism and respect from participants.
Additional support for Milgrams study
Bushman carried out a study where a female researcher, dressed either in a police uniform, as a business executive or as a beggar, stopped people in the street and asked them to give money to a person who parked at an expired parking meter.
-police uniform highest obedience
-business executive least obedience.
Cross cultural replications of Milgram’s study
-Study done with Spanish students, 90% obedience rate-suggests that Milgram’s study is not limited to American males.
-Most replications have been carried out in westernised societies-not applicable worldwide.
Evaluation good external validity Milgram’s study-Hoffing et al.
Studied nurses on a hospital ward and found levels of obedience to unjustified demands were very high-21/22 obeyed to administer over the suggested amount of a drug which they didn’t know the side effects of.
Ethical issues of Milgram’s study
-Participants believed roles were randomly allocated
-Participants believed the shocks wear real.
-Level of betrayal of trust could damage the reputation of other psychologists
Social identity theory Milgram’s study
Participants identified with the experimenter and the science of the study, if obedience dropped, participants identified less with science and more with the learner.
What is the agentic state
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour as we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure and allows us to go against our consciences.
What is the legitimacy of authority
An explanation for obedience that suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we observe to have authority over us, justified by position of power within a social hierarchy.
What is the autonomous state
To be independent or free, we are free to act on behalf of our own principles as a result we feel responsibility for actions.
What is the agentic shift
The process of shifting from the autonomous state to the agentic state.
How does our self image affect the agentic shift
Once someone moves into the agentic state, worrying about self image is no longer as relevant.
Example of destructive authority
My Lai massacre American soldiers killed over 500 Vietnamese unarmed civilians in a village. Burnt the village and killed everyone and sexually assaulted women as they were ordered to by Lt William Calley who was the only one to face charges.
Evidence against Milgram’s theory that claimed people shift between the autonomous and agentic state.
-in WW2, German reserve police battalion 101 were ordered to carry out a mass killing of Jews, the commander gave them the opportunity to do a different role however only a dozen out of 500 men didn’t get involved in the killing.
-Shows that when we are exposed to acts of evil over extended periods of time, it can change how people think.
How does cultural differences affect the legitimacy of authority
In some cultures authority is more harsh and likely to demand obedience. Children may be brought up in different ways affecting how they perceive authority figures.
Evidence to support legitimate authority
‘Cockpit culture’ Air Asia crash (2015), co-pilot didn’t want to question the captains order.
What does authoritarianism mean
the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.
