Obedience

• What is obedience?


  The performance of an action in response to a direct order. Usually the order comes from a person of high status or authority.
• What was the aim of Milgram's study?

  To investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person.
• What was the set-up of Milgram's study?

  • Involved 40 American men from 20-50 years old from a range of economic backgrounds
  • 3 people involved in each trial: The experimenter (authoritative & dressed in a lab coat), the participant (acting as the 'teacher') and confederate Mr Wallace (with a 'heart' condition)
  • Were in separate room to Mr Wallace with no contact
  • Was a single blind study as participant didn't know he was the only real participant
• What happened in Milgram's study?

  • Experimenter told teacher to give learner an electric shock if he got a question wrong (word association tasks)
  • Shock intensity increased after every wrong answer
  • Went from 15-450 volts, increasing in 15 volt increments
  • If participant wanted to stop, experimenter would say 1) please continue 2) the experiment requires that you continue 3) it is absolutely essential that you continue 4) you have no other choice, you must go on
  • If after 4th comment the teacher still wanted to stop then the experiment would stop
• What were the findings of Milgram's study?

  • 65% gave the maximum shock
  • All participants went up to 300V
  • One participant was sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting their lip and digging fingernails into their skin
  • 3 participants had uncontrollable seizures
• What was the aftermath of Milgram's study?

  • All participants debriefed
  • Introduced to Mr Wallace
  • Milgram said their behaviour was normal
  • Some participants said they had learned something about themselves
• Does Milgram's study lack mundane realism?

  Yes. It's rare for someone to shock another person for getting an answer to a question wrong. Could imply results can't be generalised to real world settings. However, study by Hofling found majority of nurses in a hospital were going to administer their patients a fake drug at double the maximum dosage because a fake doctor told them to. Supports Milgram's conclusion that people will obey an authority figure even if it could cause harm to others.
• Does Milgram's study have high populational validity?

  The Milgram study has been replicated across several different countries with obedience levels all being over 80%. Suggests Milgram's findings have high populational validity as his results can be generalised from an American population to others. However, there are psychologists who argue these studies all reflect behaviour of Westernised countries. Plus, Australia had obedience levels of 28%.
• Does Milgram's study have low internal validity?

  Yes due to lack of experimental realism. Argued that the experimental design led to some participants realising that no actual shocks were being given so they were more likely to follow instructions. However, Sheridan and King carried out a similar study where real shocks were given to puppies & participants could see the effect of the shocks. 54% of men and 100% of women delivered what they believed was a fatal shock. Therefore seems likely that participants believed it was real.
• Was Milgram's study ethical?

  Definitely not. No informed consent, no protection from harm, lots of deception. Questionable right to withdraw. Meant participants were put under a lot of stress. However, a lot of participants after debrief said that they had learned something about themselves. So maybe results of experiment worth the unethical approach to carrying it out.
• What happened in the proximity variation of Milgram's study?

  Increased the proximity between the learner and the participant. Was studied by comparing obedience in 4 different situations:

  • Original: Learner couldn't be seen (65%)
  • Teacher and learner in the same room (40%)
  • Participant had to force learners hand on the shock plate (30%)
  • Experimenter gave orders over the phone (20.5%)
• What happened in the location variation of Milgram's study?

  Original study took place in Yale University. They then moved the experiment to a run-down building and found that conformity dropped to 47.5% (Original study had 65% obedience).
• What happened in the uniform variation of Milgram's study?

  Originally, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat which is the type of clothing which validated his role as an authority figure. In this variation, experimenter was 'called away' at the beginning of the experiment, and an ordinary member of the public (a confederate) was asked to take over the experiment. Obedience levels fell to 20% (original study had 65% obedience).