obedience: Milgram's research

• obedience is a form of social influence, where an individual follows a direct order from an authority figure.
• interest for the study of obedience to authority originated with the nazis.
• • 40 male participants.
  • aged 20 -50.
  • jobs ranged.
  • responded to newspaper adverts, told it was a study on memory.
• • upon arrival, participants paired with a confederate and took part in a rigged draw - participant always teacher, confederate as the learner.
  • see the learner strapped to a chair with electrodes.
  • told they must ask the learner questions, and shock them when the answer is wrong, increasing the voltage each time (15 - 450V).
  • shocks were not real, but learner made noises and became unresponsive after 315V.
  • an experimenter in a lab coat was also present, constantly reassuring participant they would not be held to any blame.
• • no participant stopped below 300V.
  • 12.5% stopped at 300V.
  • 65% continued to the highest level (450V).
  • 3 participants had seizures.
• prior to the study, Milgram asked students to predict how many participants would continue to the 450V shock - 3%.
• participants were debreifed and told everything was normal.
• Milgram concluded that the German people were not different, and american participants were also willing to harm others when told to.
• LIMITATION - LOW INTERNAL VALIDITY:

  • Holland stated participants didn't believe that the shocks were real, which means this not actually a test of obedience.
  • Perry stated she had audio recording of participants admitting they didn't know if the experiment was real.
• LIMITATION - ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION:

  • social identity theory.
  • obedience lies in group identification.
  • the participants identified with science or the researcher, based on their personality or interests, and thats why they obey.
  • or, people identify with the learner, and obedience falls.
• STRENGTH - GOOD EXTERNAL VALIDITY:

  • the laboratory experiment accurately reflected real life relationships with authority.
  • this can be seen in the 1996 Hofling study.
  • study conducted in a hospital - with 22 nurses.
  • nurses recieve a call from a doctor they have never encountered, while working a ward alone - told to administer a drug they did not know.
  • 21/22 nurses prepared to administer the drug.
  • nurses were debriefed.
  • suggests results are applicable.
• LIMITATION - ETHICS:

  • deception - aim of the study & use of confederates.
  • subject to psychological harm.
  • led to believe they were harming another.
  • lack of informed consent.