Explanations for obedience

• Milgram AO1

  Aim :

  • whether people obey unjust behaviour from an authority figure

  Method:

  • 40 male American participants either teacher or learner
  • learner was confederate
  • teacher had to administer increasing shock starting at 15v up to 450v
  • learner would bang and complain at 315v then no response

  findings:

  • all went to at least 300v
  • 65% went to 450v
  • participants showed increasing levels of distress and tension

  conclusion:

  • under the right circumstances, ordinary people will obey unjust orders from anyone perceived as legitimate authority
• Milgram AO3

  -ethical guidelines - deception, psychological harm - damage psych reputation

  -ecological validity - 40 male Americans - beta bias, cannot conclude differences - lacks mundane realism

  -internal validity - Orne and Holland - many went to the full shock as they didn't believe it was real
• variations of Milgram


  proximity

  • teacher and learner in same room - full shock decreased from 65% to 40%
  • instructions from experimenter over phone - drop to 20.5%

  location

  • rundown building - full shock decreased from 65% to 47.5%

  uniform

  • original had lab coat on
  • experimenter replaced with someone in normal clothes
  • full shock decreased from 65% to 20%