situational variables of obedience

• Proximity


  Teacher put learner's hand on shock plate (touch proximity)
• Touch proximity 


  Obedience fell to 30%
• Learner + teacher in the same room (proximity)

  Obedience fell to 40%
• Experimenter left for an emergency + replaced by someone in casual clothing


  Obedience fell to 20%
• Location in a rundown office block rather than prestigious university


  Obedience fell to 47.5%
• 1. research Support


  • Bickman found people were more likely to obey someone in a security guard's uniform than someone in a suit or casual outfit
  • Supports situational variables, e.g. uniform have an effect on obedience
• 1. cross cultural replications


  • Milgram's study has been replicated to other cultures as well as his variations such as proximity to find similar results
• These findings can be generalised so have population validity
• Participants may have been aware the procedure was fake
• Especially in the variations where there were extra manipulations of variables, such as the experimenter becoming an everyday person, participants may have responded to demand characteristics, so low internal validity for findings