factors affecting obedience

• Personal Responsibility

  • Pps are more obedient when the responsibility is removed from them and is placed on the authority figure.
  • Less obedient when they are personally responsible for the actions
• Location

  [run down office block Milgram variation ]

   

  • The more prestigious the location [ such as Yale or a nice building ] , the more obedient a person is , as they trust the experimenters more
  • The more run down or less prestigious location, the less obedient a person is as they are more suspicious if the location and the experimenter
• Proximity

  • Distance acts as a buffer to obedience [ Milgram telephonic instructions ]
  • Closer the experimenter was , obedience levels went up
  • Experimenter in the next room -> obedience levels went down
• Uniform / status of authority figure

  • Uniform can convey power and authority and this impacts obedience
  • When the authority figure / experimenter  is dressed in clothes that convey  the symbol or status of having authority [ such as a lab coat or smartly dressed , the pps are more likely to obey  [ ordinary man gives instructions [M variation]
  • H/e when the experimenter is dressed in ordinary clothes, the obedience levels dropped as the pps don’t see the figure as one that holds authority , therefore don’t see the need to obey