Obedience- Situational variables Flashcards
Situational variables
When Milgram carried out his first study on obedience he carried out a large number of variations in order to consider the situational variables that might lead to more or less obedience.
How did proximity affect obedience?
In Milgram’s baseline study, the teacher could hear the learner but not see him. In the proximity variation, Teacher and Learner were in the same room. The obedience rate dropped from the original 65 to 40. In the touch proximity variation the Teach had to force the learners hand onto an electroshock plate when he refused to answer a question. Obedience dropped further. In the remote instruction variation, the Experimenter left the room and gave the instructions to the teacher by telephone. Obedience reduced. The participants also frequently pretended to give shocks.
Decreased proximity allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions. For example when the teacher and learner were physically separated, the teacher was less aware of the harm they were causing to another person so they were more obedient
How did the location affect obedience?
Milgram conducted a variation in a run down office block rather than in the prestigious Yale university setting of the baseline study. In this location, obedience fell.
The prestigious university environment gave Milgram’s study legitimacy and authority. Participants were more obedient in this location because they perceived that the experimenter shared this legitimacy and that obedience was expected. However obedience was still quite high in the office block because the participants perceived the scientific nature of the procedure.
How did uniform affect obedience?
In the baseline study the experimenter wore a grey lab coat as a symbol of his authority. In one variation the experimenter was called away because of an inconvenient telephone call at the stat of the procedure. The role of the experimenter was taken over by an ordinary member of the public in every clothes rather than a lab coat. The obedience rate dropped the lowest of these variations.
Uniform encourages obedience because they are widely recognised symbols of authority. We accept that someone in a uniform is entitled to expect obedience because their authority is legitimate. Someone without uniform has less right to expect our obedience.
Why is research support a strength?
One strength is that other studies have demonstrated the influence of situational variables on obedience. In a field experiment in New York a psychologist have 3 confederates dress in different outfits. The confederate s individually stood in the street and asked passers by to perform tasks such as picking up litter or handing over a coin for the parkin meter. People were twice as likely to obey the assistant dressed as a security guard than the one dressed in jacket and tie. This supports the view that a situational variable such as uniform does have a powerful effect on obedience.
Why is cross cultural replication a strength?
Another strength of Milgram’s research is that his findings have been replicate in other cultures. For instance psychologists used a more realistic procedure than Milgram’s to study obedience in Dutch participants. The participants were ordered to say stressful things in an interview to someone desperate for a job. 90% of the participants obeyed. The researchers also replicated Milgram’s findings concerning proximity. When the person giving the orders was not present, obedience decreased dramatically. This suggests that Milgram’s findings about obedience are not just limited to Americans or males but are valid across cultures and apply to females too.
