Milgrim - Situational Variables

• Situational Variables

  • features of the immediate physical and social environment that may infleunce a person’s behaviour
• three variables investigated

  • proximity
  • location
  • uniform
• Proximity

  • remote feedback - victim couldn’t be heard or seen (65%)
  • voice feedback - victim could be heard not seen (65%)
  • proximity - the victim was one meter away from the participant (40%)
  • touch-proximity - participant had to place learner‘s hands on the shock plate(30%)
  • decreased proximity allows peope to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions
• Location

  • replicated study in a run down office above a shop - 48% continued to 450v
  • prestigious university gave Milgrim’s study legitimacy and authority
• Uniform

  • in baseline procedure experimenter wore a lab coat as a symbol of his authority
  • one variation : experimenter called away, ordinary man took his place in everyday clothes (confederate)
  • obedience rate dropped to 20% - faced with someone who lacked scientific credibility