Obedience

• Milgram's research.

  Milgram (1963) designed a baseline procedure to assess obedience levels.

  40 American men volunteered to take part in a 'memory' study. When the volunteer arrived they were introduced to a confederate. The confederate became the learner (L) and the volunteer the teacher(T). There was also an experimenter (authority figure) involved.

  FINDINGS.

  Every participant delivered all the shocks up to 300 volts. 12.5% stopped at 300 volts, 65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts (i.e. they were fully obedient.
• Limitations of Milgram's research.

  LOW INTERNAL VALIDITY

  Milgram reported that 75% of participants believed the shocks were genuine. This means that 25% did not think the shocks were real, meaning they were subject to demand characteristics.
• Research support for Milgram's study.

  REPLICATION

  Beauvois et al (2012) replicated the study and found that 80% of the participants went up to the full 450 volts and their behavior was almost identical to those in Milgram's study.

  Meeus and Raaijmakers (1986) used a more realistic procedure on Dutch participants. (cross-cultural replications)
• What are the three situational variables discovered by Milgram?

  1. Proximity
  2. Location
  3. Uniform
• Proximity is a crucial factor in obedience. Relating to Milgram's baseline study, the teacher and learner were in seperate rooms (obedience level was 65%)

  During the proximity variation, the teacher and learner were in the same room and the obedience level dropped to 40%.

  In the touch proximity version it dropped to 30%

  in the remote instruction variation obedience dropped to 20.5%

  EXPLANATION

  Decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions.
• Location is a crucial factor in obedience. Milgram recreated his original study in a run down office block rather than at Yale University. In this example obedience fell to 47.5%

  EXPLANATION

  The original university setting gave the study a sense of legitimacy and authority, the participants perceived the experimenter as more legitimate and therefore they obeyed more.
• Uniform is a crucial factor in obedience. In Milgram's baseline study the experimenter wore a lab coat as an authority symbol. In a variation of the study, the experimenter was replaced with an ordinary member of the public in everyday clothes (confederate) The obedience rate dropped to 20% (the lowest of the three)

  EXPLANATION

  Uniforms are widely recognised symbols of authority and legitimacy.
• Adolf Eichmann (1961) sparked Milgram's interest in obedience. Eichmann was in charge of the Nazi death camps, his defense was that he was only obeying orders. This led Milgram to conclude that obedience to authority only occurs because the obeyer does not take responsibility for the situation as they are simply acting for someone else. This means that Eichmann can be an explanation for the agentic state.
• What is the Autonomous state?

  'independent or free' The acting person feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions.
• What is the agentic shift?

  When a person perceives someone else as an authority figure. They perceive this authority figure as taking responsibility, therefore they shift into the agentic state, whereby they do not take responsibility for their own actions.
• Milgram observed that many of his participants said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless to do so. This is due to binding factors (aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour) for example, shifting the responsibility to the victim. (e.g. 'he was foolish to volunteer' whilst they were giving them electric shocks)
• What is meant by the term 'legitimacy of authority'?


  An explanation that suggests we are more likely to obey someone who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is legitimate (justified) by the individual's position of power.
• Research support for the agentic state

  Milgram's own studies support the role of the agentic state.

  During the shock experiment, participants often asked questions, one of them being 'who is responsible if the learner is harmed' once the experimenter said that the participant was not responsible they carried on with the experiment.
• Limitations of the agentic state.

  The agentic shift doesn't explain many research findings on obedience.

  e.g. does not explain the findings of Rank and Jacobson's (1977) study.

  FINDINGS OF STUDY

  16 of 18 hospital nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to administer excessive drug use to a patient.
• Strengths of the agentic state.

  EXPLAINS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

  As the study was replicated in different countries we can clearly see the cultural differences.

  1. Kilham and Mann (1974) only 16% of Australian women went all the way up to 450 volts.
  2. Mantell (1971) 85% of German participants went up to 450 volts.
• What is the authoritarian personality?


  A type of personality that Adorno argued was susceptible to obeying people in authority.
• Adorno believed that the Authoritarian personality type forms in childhood as a result of harsh parenting.(strict discipline, and strong loyalty). These attitudes create hostility and resentment in a child that they cannot take out on their parents, therefore they displace their feelings onto others of a lower class as they do not fear punishment from them.
• Adorno et al. (1950) research procedure.


  Studied >2000 middle-class, white American's unconscious attitudes toward other ethnic groups. The researchers developed the F-Scale. (Fascism scale)
• Adorno et al. (1950) research findings.


  people who scored high on the f-scale (high authoritarian attitude) were very conscious of their status and showed extreme respect to those of a higher status. They also had a certain cognitive style (way of perceiving others) which was a very 'black and white' view.
• Research support

  Milgram's support for the authoritarian personality. Elms and Milgram (1996) interviewed small sample of people who had been fully obedient in the original Milgram study. on completion of the F-scale they all scored significantly higher overall.