obedience: Milgram’s research Flashcards
what is obedience?
a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming
what was the aim of Milgram’s study?
to investigate and find out why people obey orders. he wanted to find out why the German population had followed the orders of Hitler and whether Germans were naturally more obedient
what was the procedure of Milgram’s study?
•he recruited 40 male participants through newspaper adverts and flyers, they were aged between 20 and 50 years old
•they participated in the lab experiment and the confederate always ended up playing the learner, and the participant was the ‘teacher’ administering the shocks and taking orders from a confederate ‘experimenter’ in a white lab coat
•they were told they could leave the study at any time
•the teacher would ask the learner questions and any time they gave the wrong answer they were given a shock, the teacher believing these were very real and harmful
•the shocks went up to 450 volts, and as they increased the learner showed more pain and distress
•when the teacher resisted the experimenter responded using verbal ‘prods’
what were the 4 ‘prods’ given when the teacher showed resistance?
- please continue/ go on
- the experiment requires you to continue
- it is absolutely essential that you continue
- you have no other choice you must go on
what were the findings of Milgram’s obedience study?
•no participants stopped below 300 volts
•12.5% (5 participants) stopped at 300 volts
•65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts
•qualitative data was also collected showing signs of participant distress (sweating, trembling)
•all participants were then debriefed, and 84% said that they were glad to have taken part
Evaluation points of Milgram’s study
strength: good external validity
limitation: low internal validity
strength: supporting replication
limitation: an alternative explanation- social identity theory
strength: good external validity
•despite it being conducted in a lab, the central figure of this situation was the relationship between the authority figure and the participant
•Milgram argued that the lab environment accurately reflected wider authority relationships in real life
•(Hoflings study)
•this suggests that the processes of obedience to authority that occurred in Milgram’s lab study can be generalised to other situations, and can tell us about obedience in real life
what was Hofling’s study?
•he conducted a study on a hospital ward and found that levels of obedience to unjustified demands by doctors were very high
•21 out of 22 nurses obeyed
limitation: low internal validity
/strength?
•Orne and Holland questioned the internal validity and suggested that participants knew the shocks weren’t real
•Gina Perrys research showed that many people expressed doubts about the shocks being real
•However, (Sheridan and King’s study)
•this suggests that the effects in Milgram’s study we’re genuine despite the criticisms from other researchers
•Milgram himself reported that 70% of his participants said they believed the shocks were genuine (he may have been bias to validating his results)
strength: supporting replication
•a documentary presented a replication of Milgram’s study
•contestants were paid to give (fake) electric shocks
•80% of participants delivered the maximum shock of 460 volts
•this replication supports Milgram’s original conclusions about obedience to authority, this demonstrates that his findings were not just a one- off
limitation: an alternative explanation- Social Identity Theory
•according to social identity theory, the key to obedience lies in group identification
•In Milgram’s study, the participants identified with the experimenter and the science of the study
•when obedience levels fell it was because they identified less with the science and more with the victim
•a study was conducted that looked at how a person behaved in response to the first three prongs, those of which appeal for help with the science
•the fourth prod demands obedience. every time the fourth prod was used, the participants quit
