situational variables

• Milgram wanted to find out if other situational variables would increase or decrease obedience, so he tested different situational variables
• Milgram had 3 situational variables:

  • proximity
  • location
  • uniform
• Milgram studied 3 versions of the proximity variable:

  • proximity to authority figure
  • proximity to learner
  • physical force
• Proximity to authority figure - the experimenter gave orders over the phone, obedience dropped to 20.5% as the teacher would pretend to administer shocks or give weaker shocks
• Proximity to learner - the teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience dropped to 40%, as they were able to see the pain they were inflicting
• Physical force - the teacher had to put the learner’s hand on a shock plate, obedience dropped to 30%, teacher taking on more responsibility
• Milgram changed location from Yale University to a run-down building, obedience fell to 47.5%. This was less prestigious, so there was less perceived authority attached
• People of authority have specific outfits symbolic to the level of obedience they are entitled to
• When the experimenter wore casual clothes instead of a lab coat, the level of authority perceived was reduced and obedience dropped to 20%
• Orne and Holland suggested participants would have realised the procedure in Milgram’s original study was faked and it is even more likely that participants in Milgram’s variations realised this due to the extra manipulation
•  Even Milgram recognised some of the situations, such as where the experimenter is replaced with a member of the public, seemed artificial
• Mandel suggests the conclusions about situational variables are not found in real life events
•  In 1942, men in a police battalion received orders to carry out a mass killing of Jews in a town. Their commanding officer said anyone who didn’t feel up to this could be put on another duty. Despite things like close proximity to victims, only a small minority took up the officers' offer
• In a field experiment, Bickman (1974) dressed 3 confederates in different outfits: a guard, a milkman and a civilian
• Bickman had the confederates stand in the street and ask passersby to do simple tasks
• Bickman found 89% obeyed the guard, 57% obeyed the milkman and 33% obeyed the civilian
• Hofling et al (1966) studied nurses in a hospital ward and found that obedience levels to unjustified demands by doctors were very high with 21 out of 22 nurses obeying. Doctors have perceived authority