Obedience: situational variables

• Situational Variable

  Factors identified by Milgram that influenced the level of obedience shown by participants, related to the external circumstances rather than to the personalities of the people involved
• Milgram's research

  • Identified several factors that influenced the level of obedience shown by participants
• Milgram (1974) - Variables Affecting Obedience

  1. Proximity

  2. Location

  3. Uniform
• Proximity


  The distance between the teacher and learner
• Proximity variations

  • Teacher and learner in adjoining rooms
  • Teacher and learner in the same room
  • Teacher had to force learner's hand onto electroshock plate
  • Experimenter left the room and gave instructions by telephone
• As proximity decreased


  Obedience rate decreased
• Location


  Where the obedience study was conducted
• Conducting the study in a run-down building rather than a prestigious university setting


  Obedience rate decreased
• Uniform


  The experimenter's attire, a symbol of authority
• Experimenter wearing a lab coat


  Obedience rate higher
• Experimenter wearing everyday clothes instead of a lab coat


  Obedience rate decreased
• This suggests that uniform acts as a strong visual authority symbol and a cue to behave in an obedient manner
• The experimenter gave initial instructions to the teacher and then left the room and gave all further instructions by telephone
• Research support

  Wearing a security guard's uniform had a big impact on obedience in the study by Bickman, showing how situational factors like clothing can affect behavior.
• Cross cultural replication

  The study in the Netherlands support Milgram's obedience findings, with participants complying when asked to say distressing things to a job-seeking confederate, proving the results apply in most cultures.
• Counterpoint

  Milgram's findings may not apply across all cultures due to limited cross-cultural replications in India and Jordan, questioning the generalisability of his conclusions on obedience.
• Low internal validity

  Orne and Holland criticized Milgram's studies, suggesting participants might have realised the deception, raising doubts about the true nature of the results.