Obedience and milgrams study

• What is obedience?


  Behavior in compliance with a direct command often issued by a person in a position of authority
• What was the main purpose of Milgram's study in 1963?

  To investigate obedience to authority
• Why did Milgram advertise the study as a memory study?

  To avoid biasing the results
• How many participants were involved in Milgram's study?

  40 participants
• What demographic were the participants in Milgram's study?

  White American males aged 20-50
• Who did the participants believe they were interacting with during the study?

  They believed they were interacting with a scientist and another participant
• What role did the participant take in the study?

  The participant acted as the teacher
• What was the procedure for administering shocks in Milgram's study?

  The teacher would ask questions and shock the learner for each incorrect answer
• What was the starting voltage for the shocks in Milgram's study?

  15 volts
• What was the maximum voltage that could be administered in the study?

  450 volts
• How did the learner react to the shocks in Milgram's study?

  The learner displayed reactions to the pain of the shocks, but it wasn't real
• What would happen if a participant questioned their responsibility during the experiment?

  The scientist would claim all responsibility
• What were the results of Milgrams study?


  -100% of participants shocked up to 300 volts

  -65% of participants continued all the way to 450 volts
• What is the the Agentic state?


  A mental state in which an individual sees themselves as acting as the agent of an authority figure
• In an agentic state an individual doesn't feel guilt or responsibility for their behaviour as they believe the responsibility for their actions lies within the authority figure
• What is the autonomous state?

  Where individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions
• What is an agentic shift?


  The movement from an autonomous state to an agentic state in the presence of an authority figure
• What is Legitimacy of authority?


  Where people recognise their position relative to others in society and identify who has authority over who
• What are the situational factors affecting obedience?


  -Proximity of the authority figure

  -Location

  -Uniform

  -Social support
• In one variation of Milgrams study he made the scientist give instructions through a telephone which decreased obedience from 65%-21%
• In one variation of Milgrams study he changed the location from Yale university to a run down office block which decreased the Scientists legitimacy of Authority decreasing obedience from 65%-47.5%
• In one variation of Milgrams study the authority figure wore regular clothes decreasing their legitimacy of authority, decreasing obedience from 65%-21%
• In one variation of Milgrams study a second teacher was brought in who would shock the learner every time increasing obedience from 65%-90%
• An authoritarian personality refers to a person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient and submissive to an authority figure
• Adorno suggested that people with authoritarian personalities had their obedient personalities shaped early in life by strict authoritarian parenting with harsh physical punishments
• What traits does an authoritarian personality consist of?


  -High respect for people with a higher social status

  -Fixed stereotypes about groups of people

  -Very rigid views on morality
• What evidence is there to support the authoritarian personality being a dispositional factor affecting obedience?


  The 35% of participants in Milgrams study who resisted the authority figure
• Describe Elms and Milgrams study (1966)?


  20 obedient and 20 non-obedient males from Milgrams 1963 study were given the F-scale
• What were the results of Elms and Milgrams study (1966)?


  The obedient males scored significantly higher on the F-scale, suggesting they had an authoritarian personality