Obedience: Situational Explanations

Question 1

Milgram’s initial interest in obedience was sparked by…

Answer 1

the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 for war crimes

Question 2

Who was Adolf Eichmann?

Answer 2

A man who had been in charge of Nazi death camps and trialled for war crimes

Question 3

Why did the trial of Adolf Eichmann spark Milgram’s initial interest in obedience?

Answer 3

He had been in charge of Nazi death camps and his defence was that he was only obeying orders.

Question 4

Adolf Eichmann argued that he was only obeying orders. This led to Milgram proposing that obedience to destructive authority occurs because…

Answer 4

a person does not take responsibility and instead they believe they are active for someone else

Question 5

What does it mean to be an active agent?

Answer 5

Your obedience to destructive authority occurs because you don’t take responsibility and instead believe you are active for someone else

Question 6

What is an agent?

Answer 6

Someone who acts for or in place of another

Question 7

Agents experience high/low anxiety when they realise what they are doing is wrong

Answer 7

high

Question 8

Agents experiencing high anxiety when they realise what they are doing is wrong can be called…

Answer 8

moral strain

Question 9

Agents feel _________ to disobey

Answer 9

powerless

Question 10

Milgram observed that many of his participants said they wanted to ____

Answer 10

stop

Question 11

Milgram observed that many of his participants said they wanted to stop but…

Answer 11

seemed powerless to do so

Question 12

Milgram observed that many of his participants said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless to do so. What is this state called?

Answer 12

Agentic state

Question 13

Binding factors

Answer 13

Aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour

Question 14

In Milgram’s experiment, aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of behaviour had what impact on them?

Answer 14

Reduced the ‘moral strain’ they were feeling

Question 15

Give an example of a strategy that Milgram proposed participants used to reduce ‘moral strain’ they were feeling

Answer 15

Any from shifting responsibility to the victim and denying the damage they were doing to the victims

Question 16

In Milgram’s experiment, how would a participant shift responsibility to the victim?

Answer 16

For example by thinking they were foolish to volunteer

Question 17

Why was it easy for participants in Milgram’s experiment to deny the damage they were doing to the victims?

Answer 17

They couldn’t see them

Question 18

True/False: most of Milgram’s participants resisted giving the shocks at some point

Answer 18

True

Question 19

True/False: Milgram’s participants often asked the experimenter questions about the procedure

Answer 19

True

Question 20

When participants in Milgram’s experiment asked who is responsible if the learner is harmed and the experimenter responded saying they were responsible, what happened?

Answer 20

Participants often went through the procedure quickly with no further objections

Question 21

When participants were told that the experimenter was responsible for any harm caused in Milgram’s experiment, they went through the procedure quickly with no further objections. What does this show?

Answer 21

Once participants perceived they were no longer responsible for their own behaviour, they acted more easily as the experimenter’s agent

Question 22

What is the opposite of the agentic state?

Answer 22

Autonomous state

Question 23

A person in the autonomous state is…

Answer 23

free to behave according to their own principles

Question 24

A person in the autonomous state feels…

Answer 24

a sense of responsibility of their own actions

Question 25

Agentic shift

Answer 25

Shift from autonomy to 'agency'

Question 26

When did Milgram suggest that the agentic shift occurs?

Answer 26

When a person perceives someone else as an authority figure

Question 27

In most social groups, when one person is in charge others defer to the...

Answer 27

legitimate authority of this person

Question 28

In most social groups, when one person is in charge others defer to the legitimate authority of this person. This is a shift from...

Answer 28

autonomy to agency

Question 29

Rank and Jacobson argued that the agentic shift...

Answer 29

doesn't explain many research findings about obedience

Question 30

What did Rank and Jacobson find?

Answer 30

Found that 16 out of 18 hospital nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to administer an excessive drug dose to a patient

Question 31

In Rank and Jacobson's study, who was the doctor?

Answer 31

An obvious authority figure

Question 32

In Rank and Jacobson's study, almost all nurses remained __________

Answer 32

autonomous

Question 33

True/False: In Rank and Jacobson's study, almost all nurses remained autonomous, unlike many of Milgram's participants

Answer 33

False: Many of Milgram's participants remained autonomous

Question 34

Rank and Jacobson's research suggests that, at best...

Answer 34

the agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience

Question 35

Most societies are structured in a hierarchical way, where people in certain positions...

Answer 35

hold authority over the rest of us

Question 36

Give 3 examples of people who have authority over us at times

Answer 36

Any 3 from parents, teachers, police officers, nightclub bouncers, etc.

Question 37

The authority we wield is legitimate in the sense that...

Answer 37

it is agreed by society

Question 38

Most of us accept that authority figures have to/shouldn't be allowed to exercise social power over others

Answer 38

have to

Question 39

Why do most of us accept that authority figures have to be allowed to exercise social power over others?

Answer 39

This allows society to function smoothly

Question 40

What is one consequence of legitimate authority figures being allowed to exercise social power over others?

Answer 40

Some people are granted the power to power to punish others

Question 41

We generally agree that the ______ and ______ have the power to punish wrongdoers

Answer 41

police, courts

Question 42

We are willing to give some of our independence and to hand control of our behaviour to people we trust, to...

Answer 42

exercise their authority appropriately

Question 43

We learn acceptance of legitimate authority from what point in our life?

Answer 43

Childhood

Question 44

Who do we initially learn acceptance of legitimate authority from?

Answer 44

Parents

Question 45

After parents, who do we learn acceptance of legitimate authority from?

Answer 45

Teachers and adults generally

Question 46

Problems arise when legitimate authority becomes ___________

Answer 46

destructive

Question 47

Name an example of a charismatic and powerful leader who has used their legitimate powers for destructive purposes

Answer 47

Any from Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.

Question 48

Ordering people to behave in ways that are cruel and dangerous is an example of...

Answer 48

an authority figure becoming destructive

Question 49

How was destructive authority obvious in Milgram's study?

Answer 49

The experimenter used prods to order participants to behave in ways that went against their consciences

Question 50

Legitimacy of authority is a useful explanation to account for ________ differences in obedience

Answer 50

cultural

Question 51

Many studies show that different countries differ/are consistent in the degree to which people are obedient to authority

Answer 51

differ

Question 52

What did Kilham & Mann find?

Answer 52

Only 16% of female Australian participants went up to 450 volts in a Milgram-style study

Question 53

What did Mantell find?

Answer 53

85% of German participants went up to 450 volts in a Mantell-style study

Question 54

The legitimacy explanation of obedience shows that, in some cultures, authority is...

Answer 54

more likely to be accepted as legitimate

Question 55

The legitimacy explanation of obedience show that authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate in some cultures, leading to authority figures...

Answer 55

being more entitled to demand obedience from individuals

Question 56

The differences in obedience between cultures reflects the way that different societies are...

Answer 56

structured and how children are raised to perceive authority figures

Question 57

One limitation of the legitimacy explanation of authority is that it cannot explain instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where...

Answer 57

legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted

Question 58

Name an example of a study where there was disobedience even though legitimacy of authority was clear and accepted

Answer 58

Rank & Jacobson's nurse study

Question 59

Why is Rank & Jacobson's nurse study an example of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted?

Answer 59

Most of them were disobedient despite working in a rigidly hierarchical structure

Question 60

True/False: A significant minority of Milgram's participants disobeyed despite recognising the experimenter' s scientific authority

Answer 60

True

Question 61

The fact that legitimacy of authority cannot explain instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted suggests...

Answer 61

some people may just be more (or less) obedient than others

Question 62

The suggestion that some people may just be more (or less) obedient than others suggests...

Answer 62

it is possible that innate tendencies to obey or disobey have a greater influence than the legitimacy of an authority figure