Obedience

• Obedience


  Form of social influence which an individual follows a direct order. Person issuing, the order is usually a figure of authority who has power to punish them when behaviour is disobedient.
• Milgram (1963)


  Developed a baseline procedure to study obedience.
• Baseline procedure


  1. 40 American male volunteers

  2. Study took place at Yale university

  3. Each volunteer introduced to another participant (confederate)

  4. Drew lots to see who the Teacher was and who was the Learner

  5. Volunteer was always the teacher

  6. Experimenter was involved – also a confederate wearing a grey lab coat

  7. The teacher would have to give an electric shock to the learner when they made a mistake on a memory recall test

  8. Teacher could not see the learner but should hear him

  9. Shocks increased with each mistake in 15-volts up to 450 volts
• Baseline findings


  • Every participant delivered shocks up to 300 volts
  • 12.5 % of participants - (5 participants) stopped at 300 volts
  • 65% continued to 450 volts
  • Participants showed signs of extreme tension – sweat, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groaning, and digging fingernails into hands
  • 3 had full blown seizers
• Scientists expected no more than 3% to go up to 450 volts
• Findings unexpected
• All participants were debriefed and ensured that their behaviour was totally normal
• Follow-up questionnaire 84% glad they participated
• Research support


  • Replicated by French documentary
  • Focused on game show where participants believed they were contestants in a piolet episode of a new show called - the game of death.
  • They were paid to give fake electric shots - ordered by presenter to other participants – who were actors.
  • In front of studio audience
  • 80% of participants delivered the maximum shot of 460 volts
  • Behaviour identical - nervous laughter, biting nails and other signs of anxiety
• Low internal validity


  • Milgram reported that 75% of his participants believed that the shocks were genuine
  • Orne and Holland (1968) - argued that participants were play acting – demand charteristics
  • Perry's (2013) - reported that only half of them believed shocks were genuine
  • Two thirds were disobedient
  • Demand chacteristics trying to fulfil the aims of the study
• Sheridan and King (1972)


  • Conducted a study using a procedure like Milgram
  • Participants gave real shocks to puppies in response to orders from the experimenter
  • Despite the real distress of the animal - 54% of male participants and 100% of female participants delivered a fatal shock