Obedience And Authority Flashcards
(14 cards)
Situational variable
The factors relating to a circumstance rather than the personality of the participants
Proximity
How close you are to the person you are giving an order to
40% to 450 v
Location
Where did it take place
Run down office block = 47.5% went 450v
Uniform
What are they wearing?
When not in a lab 20% went to 450v
What did Bickman do?
•3 confederates I’m the street dressed as a milkman, security guard or jacket and tie
•asks people to pick up litter in the street
• twice as more likely to obey in uniform
Low internal validity for Zimbardo
Orne and Holland said participants were aware it was faked? - we don’t know that they didn’t obey because of demand characteristics
The agentic state
Acting as an agent for someone else meaning we aren’t responsible for our behaviour
Autonomous state
We are independently responsible
I’m this state until we are in the agentic state
EXAMPLE- Mei Lai Massacre
•Killed 504 civilians
•women gang-raped
•people shot down
•soldiers blew up buildings, burnt down down villages
•one soldier faced charges
•he was “only following orders”
Legitimate authority
We accept power and status if they are “in charge” and it’s agreed by society. Sometimes they have the ability to punish disobedience
Evaluate legitimate authority
Explains the cultural differences
Only 16% of Australian women went to 450v
Germany went to 86%
The authoritarian personality
•Dismissive to inferior, submissive to higher status
•inflexible outlook, no grey areas
•people who are “other” are responsible for the ills of society
Origins of authoritarian personality
•formed in childhood
Harsh parenting, discipline, high standards
•conditional love
F scale
People with a high f-scale scores had authoritarian qualities and were more obedient.
E.g “homosexuals are hardly better than criminals and ought to be severely punished
1 (strongly disagree) - 6 (strongly agree)
