Explanations for Obedience

Question 1

How did Milgrim find his participants

Answer 1

He advertised the obedience experiment as a memory study

Question 2

Why did Milgrim find his participants in this way

Answer 2

To avoid biases

Question 3

How many participants were there in Milgrim’s study

Answer 3

40 male participants

Question 4

Who were the real participants greeted by

Answer 4

a scientist who was a confederate

Question 5

How was Milgrim’s assignment for study rigged

Answer 5

Participants were supposed to be randomly assigned teacher and learner but they made it so that the participant always got teacher.

Question 6

Where was the real participant led in Milgrim’s study

Answer 6

into a room with devices and switches labelled 15-450v and descriptions ranging from “slight shock “ to “danger: severe shock”

Question 7

What was the teacher’s task

Answer 7

ask learner questions and for each wrong answer give them an electric shock

Question 8

What happens as the fake shocks increase?

Answer 8

The participant could hear the learner’s reaction from the other room and silence after 300v suggesting severe harm or death

Question 9

What would the scientist say when the participant questioned their responsibility

Answer 9

The scientist would say that he (the scientist) was responsible for the experiment

Question 10

What would happen if the participant refused to continue administering shocks

Answer 10

the scientist would say : “Please continue”, “The experiment requires you to continue”, “It is absolutely essential that you continue” “You have no other choice; you must go on”

Question 11

How many participants were shocked up to 300v

Answer 11

100%

Question 12

How many participants continued to 450v

Answer 12

65%

Question 13

What does footage from the experiment show?

Answer 13

The participants were very distressed

Question 14

What does Milgram’s research suggest

Answer 14

The majority of people will follow orders of an authority figure even if it will lead them to harm

Question 15

What are two explanations for obedience?

Answer 15

Agentic state and legitimacy of authority

Question 16

What is The Agentic state

Answer 16

A mental state where the individual sees themselves as acting on the behalf of an authority figure

Question 17

Why doesn’t an individual feel guilt or responsibility in the agent state

Answer 17

They believe responsibility for their actions lies with the authority figure

Question 18

When does the autonomous state occur

Answer 18

when individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions

Question 19

What is an agentic shift

Answer 19

The movement from an autonomous state to an agent state and happens in the presence an authority figure

Question 20

How do people learn their position within the social hierarchy

Answer 20

through socialisation, people understand their position relative to those around them

Question 21

What do most people accept is needed for society

Answer 21

Most people generally accept that legitimacy of authority is needed for society to function properly

Question 22

What is legitimacy of authority communicated through?

Answer 22

symbols like uniforms, settings like police stations, centres of government, and courts

Question 23

What are the three situational variables affecting obedience

Answer 23

proximity
location
Uniform

Question 24

What did Milgram do in terms of distance?

Answer 24

increased the distance between the participant and authority figure by having the authority figure give instructions via telephone rather than being in the same room

Question 25

What were the findings for Milgram's proximity variation

Answer 25

obedience rates dropped from 65% to 21%

Question 26

What did Milgram argue for the proximity variation

Answer 26

because of the increased distance participants were less likely to remain in an agent state and more likely to return to an autonomous state

Question 27

What did Milgram do in terms of location

Answer 27

Instead of holding the experiment in Yale university he replicated it in a run- down office block

Question 28

What were the findings for Milgram's location variation

Answer 28

Obedience dropped to 47%

Question 29

Why did the change in location cause obedience rates to drop

Answer 29

Because Yale is a high status university the status increased the scientists legitimacy of authority making them seem more genuine. The low- status location reduced the legitimacy of authority and the level of obedience

Question 30

What did Milgram do in terms of uniform?

Answer 30

The researcher in the lab coat received a phone call, made an excuse to leave and was replaced by another confederate dressed in regular clothes instead of a grey lab coat

Question 31

What were the findings of Milgram's uniform variation

Answer 31

obedience dropped to 20%

Question 32

Why did obedience rates drop so much in Milgram's uniform variation

Answer 32

The new experimenter had reduced legitimacy of authority

Question 33

What did Adorno want to understand

Answer 33

antisemitism in WW2

Question 34

What did Adorno argue

Answer 34

high levels of obedient behaviour were dispositional due to a set of internal traits

Question 35

What Personality type did Adorno reference

Answer 35

a personality type called the authoritarian personality

Question 36

What did Adorno suggest about people with an authoritarian personality

Answer 36

their obedient personalities were shaped early in life by strict authoritarian parenting with harsh physical punishment

Question 37

What did Adorno suggest about anger

Answer 37

The anger that they felt towards their parents was displaced onto others mainly minority groups

Question 38

Who do Authoritarian personalities have high respect for

Answer 38

people with higher social status. (leading to obedience)

Question 39

Who are Authoritarian personalities hostile towards

Answer 39

people they see as having low status

Question 40

What type of stereotypes do Authoritarian personalities have

Answer 40

Fixed stereotypes about groups of people

Question 41

How can Authoritarian personalities be described

Answer 41

Conformists with conventional beliefs and behaviours

Question 42

How would they describe Authoritarian personalities view on morality

Answer 42

views on morality are dogmatic having a clear sense of right or wrong

Question 43

How did Adorno study the Authoritarian personality

Answer 43

Used a questionnaire Calle the F-scale

Question 44

What did it mean if people scored highly on the F scale

Answer 44

had fixed stereotypes, identified with "strong people", disliked "weak people" and were inflexible with ideas of right and wrong

Question 45

What are 2/9 factors that questions on the F- scale measured

Answer 45

- Authoritarian submission - power and "toughness"

Question 46

What does it mean by Authoritarian submission

Answer 46

an uncritical attitude towards authority e.g Q1 obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn

Question 47

What does it mean by power and "Toughness"

Answer 47

Preoccupation with dominance-submission, and identification with power figures. e.g Q20 "People can be divided into two distinct classes - the weak and the strong."