Variations

• What ways was proximity varied?

  • Teacher and learner in same room
  • Teacher forces learners hand onto shock plate
  • Experimenter leaves room and gives instructions over phone
• when the teacher and learner were in the same room, what % did obedience levels drop to?

  40%
• when the teacher forced the learners hand onto the shock plate, what % did obedience levels drop to?

  30%
• when experimenter left the room and gave instructions over the phone, what % did obedience drop to?

  21%
• how was location varied?

  • conducted same experiment in a run down building rather then lab
  • this meant the location was less credible
• what % did obedience drop to when conducted in a run down building?

  48%
• how was uniform varied?

  • experimenter in a lab coat was replaced by another confederate in ordinary clothes
• when experimenter was replaced by confederate in ordinary clothes, what % did obedience drop to?

  20%
• what’s evidence for the uniform variation?

  Bickman 1974
• describe what happened in Bickman 1974

  • 3 actors dressed as either milkman, security guard or in regular clothes
  • People most obeyed to the security guard
• why does uniform affect obedience?

  uniform infers a sense of legitimate authority and power
• what is needed for a person to obey?

  they need to believe that the authority is legitimate
• when an additional confederate administrated shocks on behalf of the teacher, what did % oof obedience rise to and why?

  • 92.5%
  • participants shifted responsibility to the other confederate
  • ability to enter agentic state increases obedience as personal responsibility decreases