Milgram & situational variables affecting obedience

• Obedience


  A type of social influence where someone acts in response to a direct order. The order comes from a perceived figure of authority.
• Proximity


  Refers to the physical closeness or nearness of an authority figure to the person they are giving the order to. It is thought being in close proximity to an authority figure increases the pressure to obey them.
• In Milgram's study, when the researcher left the room and gave orders over the telephone, the obedience rate dropped from 65% to 21%
• Location


  Refers to the place an order is issued. The factor that influences obedience is the status or prestige associated with the location.
• In Milgram's original study conducted in Yale University (a prestigious location) the obedience rate was 65%. Participants claimed that the location of the study gave them confidence in the integrity of the people involved. In Milgram's variation where the participants were tested in the less prestigious location of a run-down office, the obedience rate dropped to 48%
• Uniform


  People in positions of authority often have specific uniforms symbolic of their authority which indicates to the rest of us that they can expect our obedience.
• In one of Milgram's variations, the experimenter was called away at the start of the procedure and was replaced by an 'ordinary member of the public' who was a confederate in every-day clothes rather than a lab coat. The obedience rate dropped to 20%
• Aim – to test the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis – the theory that Germans are somehow more likely to obey orders to harm others.
• Procedure:

  • 40 male volunteers were invited to Yale to take part in a study what they thought was on the effects of punishment on learning.
  • Participants were tested individually with a confederate posing as a participant
  • The confederate was the learner & the participant was the teacher
  • The participant was instructed by an authority figure to punish the learner by flicking switches on an electric shock generator for incorrect responses on a memory test.
  • The shocks ranged from 15V-450V
  • If participants refused to continue, the researcher would respond with direct orders like ‘you must continue’
• Findings:

  ·       Many participants showed signs of extreme tension.

  ·       Many participants repeatedly argued with the researcher

  ·       Milgram found an obedience rate of 65% of participants continuing all the way up to 450V
• Conclusion:

  Germans are not different and we are all capable of blind and destructive obedience to unjust orders.
• a strength is Supporting evidence from Bickman (1974). It was found that when passer-bys in New York were asked to lend money to a stranger for a parking meter, they would obey 49% of the time when dressed in every-day clothes but increased to 92% when he was dressed in a security guard’s uniform. This supports Milgram’s findings because it supports the idea that we will follow unusual orders provided the person giving them is seen to have enough authority.
• a strength is High degree of control over variables. Study was conducted in a controlled study of a lab making it easier to replicate the research, adjusting variables each time to test their influence on obedience. This is positive because it gives the study high internal validity.
• a strength is the Study was easy to replicate. Study was in controlled lab setting making it easier to repeat the research in the exact same way, adjusting variables each time to test their influence on obedience. Milgram kept everything standardised but changed variables such as the proximity and uniform of the authority figure. This is positive as it allowed Milgram’s research to test which variables affect conformity the most to gain a better understands
• a weakness is the study Lacks ecological validity. It took place in artificial lab setting which does not represent real-life. For example, people may respond differently in real-life situations. This is a weakness because the findings cannot be generalised to real life situations.
• a weakness is Ethical issues. Study uses deception. Participants were deliberately mislead regarding the true nature of the experiment as Milgram led participants to believe that electric shocks were real when they were not. Also, participants were denied informed consent as they could not have known about the true nature of the study until the debrief afterwards. This is a problem as it goes against the ethical code of conduct.