obedience: situational variables

• situational variables:

  features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person's behaviour. the alternative is dispositional variables where behaviour is explained in terms of personality
• proximity:

  the physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to. refers to the physical closeness of the teacher to the victim in milgram's studies
• location:

  the place where an order is issued. the relevant factor that influences obedience is the status/prestige associated with the location
• uniform:

  people in positions of authority often have a specific outfit that is symbolic of their authority. this indicates that they are entitled to expect our obedience
• after milgram conducted his first study on obedience, he carried out a large number of variations in order to consider the situational variables that might lead to more or less obedience
• milgram's variations; proximity:


  baseline study: teacher could only hear learner

  • in the proximity variation, the teacher and learner were in the same room
  • obedience rates decreased from 65% to 40%
  • in the touch proximity variation, the teacher had to force the learner's hand onto an electroshock plate
  • obedience decreased further to 30%
  • in the remote instruction variation, the experimenter gave instructions to the teacher by phone
  • obedience decreased to 20.5%
  • this is because decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions
• milgram's variations; location:


  baseline study: conducted in yale university

  • in the location variation, the study was conducted in a run down office block
  • obedience decreased to 47.5%
  • this is because the prestigious university environment gave the study legitimacy and authority and made participants believe that obedience was expected
• milgram's variations; uniform:


  baseline study: experimenter wore a grey lab coat

  • in the uniform variation, the experimenter had to leave at the start of the procedure and was replaced by a confederate dressed as a member of the public
  • obedience decreased to 20%
  • this is because uniforms encourage obedience as they are widely recognised symbols of authority. we believe that someone in uniform is entitled to expect obedience as their authority is legitimate
• evaluating milgram's variations; research support:


  strength

  • other studies have demonstrated the influence of situational variables on obedience
  • bickman (1974) conducted a field study in nyc and had 3 confederates dressed in different uniforms - a member of public, a milkman, and a security guard.
  • the confederates asked people in the streets to perform tasks such as picking up litter
  • people were twice as likely to obey the security guard than the member of public
  • therefore situational variables such as uniform do effect levels of obedience
• evaluating milgram's variations; cross cultural replications:


  strength

  • findings have been replicated in other cultures
  • meeus and raaijmakers (1986) used a more realistic procedure to study obedience in dutch participants
  • participants were aksed to say stressful things in a fake interview to a confederate
  • 90% of participants obeyed
  • findings were also replicated when the person giving orders was not present - obedience decreased
  • therefore milgram's findings are not limited to just american males as they are valid across cultures and also apply to women
• evaluating milgram's variation; cross cultural replications:


  counterpoint

  • replications of milgram's research are not cross cultural
  • smith and bond (1998) identified only 2 replications between 1968 and 1985 that took place in culturally different countries, whereas other replications took place in countries which are quite culturally similar to the us
  • therefore it may not be appropriate to conclude that milgram's findings apply to people in most cultures
• evaluating milgram's variations; low internal validity:


  limitation

  • situation may have been so contrived that participants may have been aware the procedure was faked
  • orne and holland (1968) criticised milgram's baseline study for this, they suggested it is even more likely in his variations because of the extra manipulation of variables - such as bringing in a confederate dressed as a member of public
  • therefore in all of milgram's studies it is unclear whether the findings are genuine or are because the participants saw through the deception and responded to demand characteristics
• evaluating milgram's variations; danger of the situational perspective:


  extra

  • findings support a situational explanation of obedience
  • mandel (1998) argues that this offers an excuse or an 'obedience alibi' for evil behaviours by not considering the dispositional factors