Obedience

Question 1

What is Obedience?

Answer 1

A form of social influence whereby individuals follow direct orders.
Person issuing order usually authority figure.

Question 2

What was the procedure of Milgram’s research?

Answer 2

40 American men volunteered to take part in study at Yale University.
Participant told involved learning and memory, (fake confederate always learner).
Participant told to shock every time answer wrong.

Question 3

What was the findings of Milgram’s research?

Answer 3

Every participant delivered all the shocks up to 300V.
12.5% stopped at 300V. 65% went to the full 450V.
Showed visible signs of extreme tension etc.

Question 4

What are some strengths of Milgram’s experiment?

Answer 4

Replicated in a french documentary.
Standardised procedures, controlled environments etc.

Question 5

What are some limitations of Milgram’s experiment?

Answer 5

Ethical issues, sample (males), sample size.
Replication (Charles and King) shocks with puppy, found similar results.

Question 6

What is a situational variable?

Answer 6

Features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person’s behaviour.

Question 7

What situational variables did Milgram investigate?

Answer 7

Location, proximity and uniform.

Question 8

When Milgram investigated location what did he find?

Answer 8

When in original experiment in Yale University obedience 65% to 450V
When in run down office block obedience reduced to 47.5%.

Question 9

When Milgram investigated proximity what did he find?

Answer 9

Normal experiment (teacher could not see learner) = 65%
When teacher could see learner= 40%
When teacher actually directing hand onto shock plate = 30%
When researcher gave remote instruction 20.5%

Question 10

When Milgram investigated uniform what did he find?

Answer 10

Normal experiment (researcher lab coat= 65%)
Normal clothes= 20%

Question 11

What are some strengths of the situation variables?

Answer 11

Research support - Bickman experiment (field experiment with diff uniforms).
Replications of Milgram (Meeus & Raaihmakers 1986)

Question 12

What are some of the limitations of situational variables?

Answer 12

May have been some demand characteristics. Not a holistic view of obedience as may be other explanations e.g dispositional.

Question 13

What are situational explanations of obedience (two)?

Answer 13

Agentic State, Legitimacy of Authority.

Question 14

What is the idea of the agentic state?

Answer 14

A mental state where we feel no responsibility for our behaviour because we feel we are acting under an authority figure (as their agent).

Question 15

What is the autonomous state?

Answer 15

Opposite of being in an agentic state, you feel you are acting in regards to your own principles.W

Question 16

What do you call the shift from autonomous to agentic state?

Answer 16

Agentic shift.

Question 17

What are binding factors in regards to the agentic state?

Answer 17

Aspects of the environment that let the participants minimise the damaging effects of actions.

Question 18

What is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 18

The idea that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. E.G Someone who fits higher than us in social hierarchy.

Question 19

What is the authoritarian personality?

Answer 19

A personality type more susceptible to obeying authority type.
Dismissive of inferiors and submissive to those higher.

Question 20

Who created the authoritarian personality?

Answer 20

Adorno.

Question 21

When did Adorno believe the authoritarian personality was formed?

Answer 21

Childhood- due to harsh parenting.

Question 22

How is the authoritarian personality measured?

Answer 22

F-SCALE.

Question 23

What did Adorno’s 1950 research consist of?

Answer 23

2000 middle class white American Males and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups.
Used potential for-fascism (F scale).

Question 24

What was the findings of Adorno’s 1950 research?

Answer 24

People who scored high on F scale generally showed contempt for the weak and submissive of authority.
Fixed distinct stereotypes.

Question 25

What could be a strength of the theory of authoritarian personality?

Answer 25

Milgram supported it by interviewing some of his original participants. 20 who were obedient were higher on F scale than 20 disobedient

Question 26

What could be a limitation of authoritarian personality?

Answer 26

Doesn’t explain a full countries population obeying (e.g Nazi Germany).