Milgram- situational variables

• situational variables studied by Milgram

  proximity

  location

  uniform
• research of proximity of the teacher and learner

  teacher and leaner were in the same room
• impacted of teacher and learner being in the same room

  obedience rate dropped from 65% to 40%
• touch proximity variation

  the teacher had to force the learners hand onto an 'electroshock plate' if he refused to do it himself
• impact of the touch proximity variation

  obedience dropped to 30%
• remote instruction variation

  the experimenter left the room and have instructions via telephone
• impact of remote instructions

  obedience dropped to 20.5%

  pps also frequently pretended give shocks
• explanation for impact of proximity

  proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions
• location variation

  conducted a variation in a run-down office block rather than in Yale university
• impact of location

  obedience fell to 47.5%
• explanation for the impact of changing location

  prestigious university environment gave Milgram's study legitimacy and authority

  participants were more obedient at Yale because they perceived the experimenters legitimacy and authority
• why was obedience still quite high in run-down offices

  the pps perceives the 'scientific' nature of the procedure
• uniform variation

  the experimenter wore a grey lab coat in the baseline procedure

  in the variation the experimenter was called away due to an inconvenient phone call

  a 'ordinary member of the public' (a confederate) took over the experimenters role

  the confederate was wearing everyday clothes
• impact of uniform

  obedient rate dropped to 20%
• explanation for impact of uniform

  uniforms 'encourage' obedience because they are widely recognised as symbols of authority

  someone in uniform is entitled to expect obedience due to their legitimate authority

  someone with uniform has less right to expect obedience
• impact of situational variables

  Milgram found that situational variables had large impact on obedience levels

  
• strengths of Milgram's research into situation variables

  research support (Bickman)

  cross-cultural replications (Meeus and Raaijmakers)

  standardised procedures
• Bickman (1974) research procedure

  field experiment in NYC

  3 confederates dressed in different outfits- jacket and a tie, a milkman's outfit and a security guard

  the confederates individually stood in the street and asked passers-by to perform task e.g. picking up litter
• findings of Bickman 1974

  security guard= received twice as many people obeying than the confederate dressed in a suit and tie
• research of Meeus and Raaijmakers (1986)

  used a realistic procedure to study obedience in Dutch participants

  the pps were ordered to say stressful things in an interview to someone ( a confederate) desperate for a job
• findings of Meeus and Raaijmakers

  90% of participants obeyed

  when the person giving the orders wasn't present obedience decreased

  suggest that Milgram's findings are not just limited to Americans or men
• limitations of Milgram

  not completely cross-cultural (Smith and Bond)

  low internal validity (Orne and Holland)
• Smith and Bond (1998) research

  identified two replications between 1968 and 1985 that took place in India and Jordan- both countries cultural different from USA

  whereas the other countries involved (e.g. Spain, Scotland) are culturally similar to USA
• conclusion of Smith and Bond

  it may not be appropriate to conclude that Milgram's findings apply to people in all or most cultures
• Orne and Holland (1968) research

  criticised Milgram's low of internal validity in his baseline study

  they point out that his variations had extra manipulation of variables

  an example is the variation where the experimenter is replaced by a ‘member of the public’- Milgram recognised that this situation was quite obviously fake
• conclusion of Orne and Holland

  it is unclear that the findings of Milgram are genuinely due to the operations of obedience or because the pps saw through the deception so just 'play-acted'