Explanations of Obedience Flashcards
What are the three factors shown to affect obedience?
Proximity, Location and Uniform.
What was the obedience rate up to 450 volts when the teacher and learner were in the same room in Milgrams study? (Proximity)
40%
What was the obedience rate when the teacher pressed the learner’s hand on the shock plate in Milgrams study? (Proximity)
30%
What was the obedience rate when the experimenter gave orders through the phone in Milgrams study? (Proximity)
21%
Why had many people claimed to have conformed in Milgrams original study? (Location)
Claimed they had continued delivering shocks because the research was being conducted at Yale University.
Where did Milgram decide to carry out his study after the original one? (Location)
A run-down office in downtown Bridgeport.
What was the obedience rate when the location was a run down office? (Location)
48%
What did the experimenter wear in the original Milgram study? (Uniform)
A white laboratory coat.
Who conducted a field experiment to study the effects of uniform on obedience?
Bickman (1988).
Describe Bickman’s Field Experiment.
- Three male experimenters gave orders to 153 randomly selected pedestrians in Brooklyn, NYC.
- The experimenter’s were dressed in one of three ways: a jacket and tie, a milkman’s uniform and a guards uniform that looked like a police officer.
- The experimenter gave one of three orders including ‘This fellow has over paid at the meter but doesn’t have any change, give him a dime’
What were the findings of Bickman’s experiment?
He found that when the experimenter was dressed as a guard, participants were more likely to obey than if he was dressed the other two ways. 92% of people complied with the request to lend money when asked by the experimenter compared to 49% when in ordinary clothes.
What is legitimacy of authority?
This refers to the degree of social power held by the person who gives the order/instruction. Social power may be associated with social roles. From an early age we learn to obey those in positions of authority either because we trust them or because they have the power to punish us.
Briefly describe Hofling’s study into the affect of legitimacy of authority.
- Identical boxes of capsules were placed in 22 wards of both public and private hospitals in the USA.
- The label indicated that the maximum daily dosage was 10mg (in fact the capsules were placeboes).
- Whilst the nurse was on duty a ‘doctor’ (confederate) instructed the nurse by telephone to give 20mg of the capsules to his patient.
- He said he would come to see his patient in 10 mins and that he would sign the authorisation document when he got there.
- To comply with this request, the nurse would be breaking three basic procedural rules: the dose was above the maximum daily dosage, drugs should only be given after written authority has been obtained and the nurse must be 100% sure that the doctor is a genuine doctor.
What did Hofling’s study find? (Legitimacy of Authority?
21/22 nurses complied unhesitatingly! Eleven later said that they had not noticed the dosage discrepancy.
What did Hofling find? (Legitimacy of Authority)
21/22 nurses complied unhesitatingly. 11 later said they had not noticed the dosage discrepancy.
