AO1 - Situational Variables Affecting Obedience

• Proximity: how near or far the participant (teacher) is to the victim (learner) or experimenter (authority figure)
• In the original experiment, the teacher could not see the learner - only hear them, obedience was 65%
• When the teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience dropped from 65% to 40% because the teacher could directly see how their behaviour was having an unpleasant consequence on the learner
• When the teacher was required to force the learner's hand on the electric shock plate, obedience dropped from 65% to 30% (touch proximity)
• In one variation, the experimenter left the room, decreasing proximity, and gave instructions to the teacher by telephone - obedience fell from 65% to 20.5% showing that the closer an authority figure is to an individual, the more obedient the individual becomes
• Location: the original experiment was conducted in a prestigious university (Yale university)
• When the location changed to a 'seedy' run down office in a run down part of town, obedience fell from 65% to 48% - Milgram argued this is because the amount of perceived legitimate authority of the experimenter was reduced
• Power of uniform: wearing uniforms can give a perception of added legitimate authority to the individual delivering orders
• In Milgram's experiment, the researcher wore a grey lab coat which gave him an 'air' of authority
• In one variation, the experimenter in the lab coat was called away from the experiment to answer a phone call, their role was taken over by an 'ordinary member of the public' who wore everyday clothes - obedience fell from 65% to 20% suggesting that uniform acts as a strong visual authority symbol