social psychology

• factors affecting obedience(personality)


  • internal locus of control- in control of actons- something happens because they caused it
  • external locus of control- what happens to them comes from outside of control- life events
  • authoritarian personality- said to admire rules due to authority figure they look up to
  • social desireability- what society wants- self report data
• factors affecting obedience (culture)


  • proximity- closer the authoritative figure- higher the obedience
  • momentum of compliance- participants feel obliged to continue
  • status of authority- if there is no authorative figure obedience fall
  • personal responsibility- if they are not in control of own actions then obedience will increase
• milgrams basic study 1963


  • Aim to see how people are persuaded to commit pain on others obeying instructions even if it involved harming people
  • method experimenter(actor) dressed in lab coat and learner was strapped to chair and the volunteer had to administer shocks every time the learner got the answer wrong the level of shocks kept increasing
  • results 65% of participants continued to highest level of shocks(450 shocks)
  • conclusion ordinary people are likely to follow authorative figures instructions even if it means harming people- obeying
• milgrams basic study 1963


  • evaluation
  • G- only men- 40 participants- can not be widely generalised
  • R- it was replicated by Burger a few years later- had standardised procedures
  • A- understands why jews were kill in such way and in large amounts in the holocaust
  • V- lacks ecological validity- artificial tasks
  • E- did not give informed consent- deception as they actually believed they were giving shocks
• milgrams variation studys


  • rundown office block experiment 10- to see if obedience drops if environment changes - drops by 47.5%
  • telephonic instuctions experiment 7- to see if proximity effects obedience- obedience drops- 22.5%
  • ordinary man- to see if obedience drops if authorative figure is not there- only 4% of people made it to 450 volts- drops to 20%
• Burger Replicating Milgram (2009)


  • AIM to find out if the same results as milgram 1963 reoccurs to see if personality variables like empathy influences obedience
  • METHOD 70 participants same as milgrams and only tested between 15v each time the teacher watched the learner the learner says he has a heart condition and wants to stop
  • RESULTS 70% of participants in baseline condition were prepared to go past 150 volts compared to 82.5% in milgram
  • CONCLUSIONS empathy didnt make as much of a difference in obedience which goes against what was expected
• agency theory


  • Milgram socialisation- individual who internalise social norms and values into individuals- when you are younger
  • moral strain- feeling uncomfortable pressure when doing something wrong
  • autonomous state- when we feel control of our own actions
  • agentic state- when we surrender freewill to serve the wider community when there is a legitimate figure of authority
• evaluating agency theory evidence

  65% of participants made it to 450 volts
• social impact theory


  • I=F(SIN)
  • S- strength/hierachy
  • I- immediacy- how and when
  • N- source- number of sources
• obedience


  is the function of a strength, immediacy amd number of sources
• group polarisation


  more extreme ideas from group
• social functioning


  how individuals in a social setting socialise
• evaluating social impact theory evidence

  milgram 65% go to 450 volts due to group pressure and hierachy
• meeus and raajmakers


  • AIM investiagte destructive obedience in everyday situations including psychological abuse
  • METHOD interveiwe was a strooge participants told to ask 15 questions and strooges showed distress
  • RESULTS 92% made all stressful comments
  • CONCLUSION participants think psychological harm is not as bad as physical violence easier to obey as abuse was psychologica;
  • EVALUATION G- not able to generalise- small sample
  • R- can be replicated as standardised procedures
  • A- verbal bullying
  • V- high egological validity
  • E- they were decieved
• realistic conflict theory

  the idea that there is a conflict between group fighting for resources which causes prejudice