Research into Obedience

• Bickman (1974)

  • wanted to investigate the social power of a uniform
  • three experimenters wore three different uniforms : sports coat and tie, milkman’s outfit, guard’s uniform
  • gave three different instructions to pedestrians
• Bickman (1974) Findings

  • participants more likely to obey the experimenter wearing a guard’s uniform
  • obedience is related to the amount of perceived authority as well as uniform
  • participants not asked to cause harm - only partially supports milgrim’s findings
• Hoffling (1966)

  • carried out field studies on nurses who were unaware they were involved in an experiment
  • naturalist field experiment with 22 real night nurses and Dr. Smith (stooge) and asked them to see if hey had the drug Astroten
  • maximum dosage was 10mg
  • doctor told them to administer 20mg to ‘Mr Jones’ and the doctor would sign the authorisation forms later on
  • medication wasn’t real
  • three rules were broken - cannot accept instructions over the phone, the dose was double the limit, medicine wasn’t authorised - not on the stock list
• Hoffling (1966) Findings

  • nurses were influenced by the power of doctors
  • a control group of nurses said that they wouldn’t obey