obedience: situational variables on milgrams study

Question 1

what were the 3 situational variables he changed to see an impact on performance

Answer 1

• proximity
• location
• uniform

Question 2

what was the obedience rate when the teacher and learner are in the same room

Answer 2

40%

Question 3

what was the obedience rate when the teacher forced the learners hand

Answer 3

30%

Question 4

what was the obedience rate when the instruction were given to the teacher by telephone

Answer 4

20.5%

teachers pretended to give the shock

Question 5

explain the effects of proximity on obedience

Answer 5

decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions so obedience rates fall

Question 6

when the research was moved to a run down office block what were the obedience rates

Answer 6

47.5%

Question 7

explain the effects of location on obedience rates

Answer 7

obedience fell due to it not being at Yale university which is a prestigious university this provided his study with legitimacy and authority

but the obedience in the office block was still high due to scientific nature of the procedure

Question 8

what happened to obedience rates when the experimenter wore normal clothes like a member of the public

Answer 8

fell to 20%

Question 9

explanation of why obedience fell when experimenter wasn’t in a grey lab coat (like in original study)

Answer 9

uniforms encourage obedience as they are widely recognized as symbols of authority

Question 10

what is the study that provides research support for Milgram’s situational variables

Answer 10

Bickman’s (1974) field experiment.

3 confederates dressed in different outfits and they asked passers by to perform various tasks .eg picking up litter.

People were twice as likely to obey confederate dressed in guard uniform compared to a man in a suit and tie.