Situational Factors

• What are situational variables in psychology?

  Environmental circumstances affecting behavior
• Milgram's Variation #7 showed that obedience decreased when the authority figure was distant
• In Milgram's Variation #10, obedience was higher in a prestigious location compared to a downtown office.
• Which researcher tested real nurses in a hospital setting to study obedience?

  Charles Hofling
• In Hofling's study, nurses obeyed an unknown doctor's order to administer a dangerous dose of a drug
• What percentage of nurses in Hofling's study obeyed the unknown doctor's orders?

  21 out of 22
• Obedience decreases when other participants refuse to obey, as shown in Milgram's Variation #17.
• Realistic Conflict Theory suggests that competition over resources leads to prejudice
• What did the Nazis use competition over wealth to justify prejudice against Jews?

  Boycott of Jewish businesses
• Social Identity Theory (SIT) requires competition to trigger prejudice, unlike Realistic Conflict Theory.

  False
• What were the meaningless groups based on in Tajfel's minimal group studies?

  Taste in modern art
• Tajfel's studies showed that even minimal group membership triggers discrimination
• Tajfel believed the Holocaust was solely caused by competition over resources.

  False
• What is the term for someone who influences others through their emotional appeal?

  Charismatic leader
• Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory explains the influence of charismatic leaders through the concept of imitation
• Which study demonstrated the "pathology of power" by turning a university basement into a simulated prison?

  Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Stanford Prison Experiment was originally intended to last for a month but was stopped after six days.
• In the Stanford Prison Experiment, the guards became authoritarian and psychologically tortured the prisoners
• What did Zimbardo call the distortion of thinking caused by power?

  Pathology of power
• One of the guard participants in the Stanford Prison Experiment disagreed with Zimbardo's assessment of their behavior.
• Dispositions, also known as individual differences, include factors like cultural beliefs and age
• What debate in social psychology concerns the relative importance of situations versus dispositions in behavior?

  Situations vs. dispositions
• Social psychologists of the 1950s and 1960s believed that dispositions were more important than situations.

  False
• Cross-cultural studies on obedience replicate American studies in other countries to compare results
• In which countries were obedience levels similar to Milgram's baseline results?

  UK, Spain, Austria
• Thomas Blass calculated the mean obedience level for US studies to be 61%.
• Which country had the lowest obedience level in Milgram's replications?

  Australia
• The Shanab & Yahya study in Jordan replicated Milgram's baseline procedure with a control group
• In the Shanab & Yahya study, there was no difference between male and female obedience.
• What percentage of participants in the Control Group of Shanab & Yahya's study went to 450V without being ordered to do so?

  12.5%
• Shanab & Yahya concluded that obedience is universal and supports Milgram's Agency Theory
• What qualitative data in Shanab & Yahya's study contrasts with Milgram's findings about participant distress?

  No adverse effects
• Schools use psychological strategies like uniforms to increase obedience among students.
• According to Zimbardo, deindividuation can lead to students obeying the wrong authority figures
• What situational factor increases disobedience in schools, according to Milgram's Variations?

  Distance from authority
• Teachers can improve obedience by displaying symbols of authority in the classroom.
• Milgram's Variations suggest that physical proximity is more important for obedience than looking physically imposing
• What event in history led social psychologists to question human goodness and decency?

  The Holocaust
• Social psychologists rejected the "Germans are different" hypothesis as a dispositional explanation for the Holocaust.
• What movement in the 1960s in America reminded Milgram of the Holocaust?

  The Civil Rights Movement