Contemporary study - Burger

• Aim

  See is Milgrams findings were era bound. if gender or personality traits affected it (empathetic concern and desire for personal control)
• details (procedure)

  Lab experiment w independent groups. 70 adults (29 men and 41 women) aged 20-81. 60% has uni degrees. 55% Caucasian 4% black Afro American. Sample obtained by distributing flyers in places
• Procedure


  2 step screening process(mental issue people not included in sample). Highest shock 150V - milder. (Argued 79% who gave 150V would have gone to 450V). Ps given 3 reminders (2 in writing) of right to withdraw and they’d still get money Sample shock 15V not 45. Debrief almost immediate + met actor. Clinical psychologist observed - would end if necessary
• Findings

  Obedience only slightly lower (70% to 150 compared to 82.5%). No sig dif in gender (men-66.7%, women-72.7%). No sig dif in empathetic concern stores between defiant (19.25) and obedient (19.20). Defiant Ps had higher desire for personal control scores (106.92) obedient - 98.24
• Conclusions

  Not era bound: androcentric. Desire for personal control does determine likelihood for deviance. Lack of empathy isn’t valid explanation for high obedience rates as both defiant and obedient had similar scores for trait
• Strength -strong internal validity


  None of Ps had knowledge of Milgrams research (anyone who took 2 or more psych classes were excluded). 5 people admitted awareness and dropped out so demand characteristics not a prob
• Strength 2

  Milgram replication by Jean Leon Beauvois et al (2012) is more representative of wider pop (no exclusions apart from health probs w medication). Done in France. Results 80% obedience shocked 480V - confirmed what Burger found - so could be generalisable
• Weakness

  Sample not representative of target pop. Pre screening was good ethically but 38% deselected. People in final sample could me more psychologically robust - lower levels of obedience and reduces generalisability
• Weakness 2

  Elms 2009 claims Burgers research tells us little about real world obedience so lacks application. Ps stopped before suffered real tension meant situation lost potency. Convos in Stans study between P and experimenter post 150V provided most illuminating findings Burger couldn’t explore this. Reduces meaningfulness of study - helping us to understand obedience in real world situations today