Explanations for obedience

• What is meant by obedience?

  Obedience is a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order

  The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming
• Milgram's Aim-

  To investigate whether an ordinary person would obey unreasonable orders from an authority figure
• Milgram's method-

  -Ppts were told they were taking part in experiment to investigate effects of punishment on learner

  -Random role allocation was rigged so true ppt was always teacher

  -Ppt instructed to administer shocks to learner each wrong answer they gave, increasing 15v each time

  -If ppt stopped, experimenter (in white lab coat) used 1 to 4 verbal prods
• Milgram's results-

  -100% ppts reached 300v

  -65% ppts continued to 450v (potentially fatal)
• Milgrams conclusions-

  -People will obey an order (even one that causes harm), if they believe the person given order is in position of legitimate authority
• Weakness of milgram - Internal validity

  -Orne and Holland argued that ppts behaved in way they did because they didnt really believe in set up, they guessed shocks weren't real

  -Perry listened to tapes of Milgrams ppts and reported many of them expressed their doubts in the shocks

  -Lacks internal validity
• Strength of Milgram - Generalisable

  -Hofling studied nurses on hospital ward

  -Nurses were contacted by phone and ordered to administer a dose of an unauthorised drug that was 2 times higher than maximum safe dosage

  -21 out of 22 nurses obeyed (95%)

  -Suggests process of obedience to authority that occurred in Milgram's study can be generalised to other situations
• Milgram carried out a number of variations to investigate whether situational variables would affect obedience levels :

  Variations included:

  -Proximity

  -Location

  -Uniform
• Proximity-

  Original- Teacher in adjoining rooms - rate 65%

  Variation- Teacher same room - rate dropped to 40%

  -Teacher forcing hand - rate dropped to 30%

  -Teacher over phone - rate dropped to 20.5%
• Location-

  Original- Conducted at Yale uni very prestigious - rate was 65%

  Variation- Run down building - rate dropped to 47.5%
• Uniform-

  Original- Experimenter wore lab coat- rate was 65%

  Variation- Experimenter was called ordinary member of public in everyday clothes - rate dropped to 20%
• Strength- Supporting evidence

  -Strength of research into situational variables is supporting research

  -In field experiment in New York, Brickman had 3 confederates in 3 different outfits

  -Jacket and tie, milkman and security guard outfit.

  -Confederates stood in street and asked passersby to perform a task.

  -People were twice likely to obey to man dressed as security guard

  -Supports conclusion that obedience can be influenced by uniform
• Strength - Cross cultural replications

  -Miranda et al (1981) found an obedience rate of over 90% amongst spainish students

  -Suggest that Milgram's findings are not limited to American males, but is generalisable across cultures and females to
• Weakness - Cross cultural replications

  -Smith and Bond (1998) make crucial point that most replications have taken place in Western and developed societies, not culturally different to USA

  -Suggests that we cannot generalise Milgram's findings about proximity, location and uniform to people everywhere
• Autonomous state -

  -Free to behave according to their own principles and therefore feel a sense of responsibility for their actions

  -When given order by authority figure, we shift from autonomous to agentic state known as agentic shift
• Legitimacy of Authority-

  -Due to society's hierarchal structure, certain people are able to hold authority over rest of us in a way agreed by society

  -Society accepts authority figure can exercise power over us

  -We are willing to give up control of independent behaviour to those we trust to appropriately exercise authority
• Destructive authority-

  -Some cases, people with authority can abuse this power and give cruel callous orders
• Agentic state-

  -Mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour cause we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure

  -Free us from demands of our conscience and allows us to obey
• Application to agentic state-

  -Soldiers were in an agentic state as they were being told what to do by a person of authority so they dont feel responsibility
• What keeps someone in agentic state?

  -Binding factors:

  >Aspects of situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of behaviour and moral strain they experience
• Agentic state Limitation - Other findings

  -Unable to explain many other research findings about obedience

  -Rank and Jacobson found that 16 out of 18 hospital nurses disobeyed orders to administer excessive drug dose

  -Despite doctor being authority figure, majority of nurses remained in autonomous state

  -Doesn't support Milgrams suggestion that we would experience agentic shift to obey authority figure so agentic state can only count fot some situations of obedience
• Agentic state Strength - Research support

  -There is research to support

  -Evidence to support comes from agentic shift comes from Milgrams own baseline study

  -When refusing to shock, ppts asked experimenter "whose responsible is ppt harmed" experimenter replied "I am responsible" the ppts often went through quickly with no objections

  -Shows that once ppts perceived they were no longer personally responsible for own behaviour, they acted as experimenters agent
• Agentic state Limitation- Contradictory evidence

  -Contradictory evidence for agentic shift in real life cases of obedience

  -Lifton found ordinary medical professionals working in Auschwitz transitioned into individuals capable of carrying out horrific experiments on helpless prisoners

  -Staub argued rather than agentic shift being responsible its experience of obeying and carrying out evil acts over a long time that changes way individuals think

  -Suggest Milgrams agentic shift is too simplistic and we need to consider other factors to fully understand why people obey
• Legitimacy of authority Strength - Real life war crimes

  -It can help explain how obedience can lead to real life war crimes

  -Lt.William Calley ordered american soldiers to murder 500 innocent civilians in My Lai, argued he was simply obeying orders from is commanding officers

  -Kelman and Hamilton argued that My Lai Massacre can be understood in terms of power hierarchy in US army

  -Means explanation has practical applications, legitimacy authority is useful explanation, possibility to educate soldiers preventing war crimes
• Legitimacy of Authority Strength - Cultural differences

  -It is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience

  -Many studies show countries differ in degree to which people are obedient to authority

  -Kilham and Mann found 16% of Australian women obeyed to 450v whereas Mantell found 85% rate in German ppts

  -Shows, in cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals. Reflects ways different societies are structured
• Legitimacy of Authority Limitation- Cant explain disobedience

  -Legitimacy cant explain instances of disobedience in hierarchy where legitimacy is clear and accepted

  -Rank and Jacobsons study 16 out of 18 nurses were disobedient despite hierarchy of authority in hospital

  -Significant minority of Milgrams ppts disobeyed

  -Suggests some people may be more or less obedient and its possible that innate tendencies to have dis/obey have greater influence on behaviour
• Dispositional explanation-

  Dispositional explanations of behaviours such as obedience emphasise the behaviour is caused by an individuals own personal characteristics
• Authoritarian Personality-

  A distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority
• Adorno's research-

  -Investigated the causes of an obedient personality in a study of more than 2000 middle class white Americans
• Authoritarian traits-

  Traditional, inflexible beliefs

  Extreme respect for those with higher status

  Contempt for socially inferior status or 'other' social groups

  Highly obedient to authority figures
• Authoritarian personality origins-

  -Forms in childhood, result of harsh parenting(strict discipline, high standards) and conditional love

  -Adorno argued these experiences create feelings of hostility and resentment in child, which cant directly express to parents as fear of punishment

  -Feelings are displaced onto others who perceived as weaker called scapegoating