Social Influence Flashcards

Question

3 limitations of zimbardos research on conformity to social roles

Answer 1

P- many ethical issues E- informed consent- participants couldn’t fully consent as it was unpredictable what would happen and didn’t consent for being arrested at home. Another was protection from harm- experienced humiliation and distressed with one having uncontrollable bursts of screaming and crying C- this is a problem because unethical studies may give social influence a bed reputation, so P are less willing to take part. C- However he attempted to deal with issues such as extensive group debriefing sessions and benefits might outweigh the costs as understanding human behaviour is worth the distress and no long lasting effects. P- result may be due to demand characteristics E- they didn’t really conform to social roles/beleive they were guards/prisoners. For example Dave eshlemen conducted his own little experiment suggesting he wasn’t conforming to social roles, he knew what he was doing, just acting as a guard. Also been suggested Ps were ‘play acting’ meaning wasn’t their true belief. C- this is an issue as it lowers the IV of study and may not have tested true conformity to social roles. C- however evidence to suggest they truely conformed e.g. guards only talked about prison topics, stayed extra time with no pay and prispners referred to themselves by prison numbers and asked for lawyer- may have truely believed- findings valid. P- zimbardo may have exaggerated the power of roles E- only one third of guards behaved brutally, another third applied rules fairly and the rest supported prisoners often giving cigarettes ect. C- suggests SPE overstates the view that guards were conforming to a brutal role and minimised dispositional influences such as personality.

Answer 2

P- control over key variables E- emotionally stable participants were recruited and randomly allocated roles of guards or prisoner. The guards and prisoners had those roles only by chance and therefore behaviour was due to the role itself and not their personalities. C- thus control increased the studies internal validity so we have more confidence in drawing conclusions about the effects of social roles on conformity.

Answer 3

Changing our behaviour in response to a direct order from a perceived authority figure who has the power to punish us if we don’t obey

Answer 4

Wanted to know why the nazis were willing to kill Jewish people and they said they were just following orders Mil gram wanted to see if there was any truth in their claims and tested the Germans are different hypothesis

Answer 5

40 American male participants who believed they were volunteering for a study investigating memory

Answer 6

Each P drew lots for their role however this was always rigged. The real Ps was always the teacher and a confederate was always the learner. The learner was strapped in a chair in a separate room and wired with electrodes. They had to remember word pairs and each time a learner got the answer wrong the teacher had to give increasingly severe electric shocks (15-450v) these shocks were actually fake. If the teacher (realP) wished to stop the experimenter in a lab coat gave standardised prods to encourage them to carry on e.g. experiment requires that you continue.

Answer 7

QUANTITATIVE- all continued to 300v and 65% continued to 450v (they obeyed) QUALITATIVE- Ps showed signs of extreme tension e.g. nervous laughter, biting nails and three had full blown uncontrollable seizures After the study participants were debriefed and 84% said they were glad to have participated

Answer 8

Under certain circumstances most people will obey the orders of an authority even those that go against their conscience. We can therefore suggest that atrocities such as those carried out in WW11 may be largely explained in terms of pressures to obey a powerful authority figure

Answer 9

P- support for the high levels of obedience found in milgrams study E- in a french TV documentary, contestants were paid to give (fake) electric shocks when ordered by the presenter to other Ps (actors). 80% gave the maximum 460v to an apparently unconscious man. Many showed extreme signs of anxiety. C- thus supports milgrams original findings about how ordinary people can go against their conscience and follow the unjust orders of an authority figure.

Answer 10

P- milgrams participants may have been responding to demand characteristics E- many researchers have argued that the Ps guessed the electric shocks were fake, so were ‘play acting’ in the study. This is supported by perry who analysed milgrams archive of tape recordings and found that Ps often voiced their suspicions about the shocks. Perry conducted that only half believed the shocks were real. C- therefore this study may lack IV, so does not actually measure true obedience to authority the high obedience found could be because the Ps did not think the shocks were real. C- however another study asked Ps to give real shocks to a puppy. 54% of males and 100% of females delivered maximum voltage so obedience may be genuine. P- many ethical issues E- deception- told research was about memory when was about obedience and that the shocks were real when they weren’t. Another is protection from harm- giving shocks made P feel stressed and anxious- some having seizures. C- this is an issue as unethical studies may give social influence/obedience a bad reputation making ps less willing to do these studies in the future P- M research lacks population validity E- M only tested male participants yet applied results to both males and females. Another study found females are more likely to obey more than males (100% compared to 54%) C- this is a limitation as it makes his study gender biased since we cannot confidently generalise the test results to female obedience- levels may have been higher.

Answer 11

Original obedience- 65% Proximity to learner- dropped 40% and 30% Proximity to experimenter- dropped 20.5% when further away Location- dropped to 47.5% Uniform- dropped to 20%

Answer 12

Teacher and learner in the same room- obedience dropped to 40% Teacher forced learners hand onto shock place- dropped to 30% Why- if the proximity increased participants became more aware of the consequences of their actions (harm) so obey less

Answer 13

Experimenter left the room and gave the instructions by telephone Obedience dropped to 20.5% Why- the experimenter couldn’t see the teachers Actions so participants often pretended to give shocks

Answer 14

Study conducted in a run down building Dropped to 47.5% Why- obedience was higher in the university because the setting was legitimate and had authority- obedience was expected.

Answer 15

Experimenter called away and his role was taken over by an ordinary member of the public in everyday clothes Obedience dropped to 20%- the lowest of the variations Why- a uniform is a strong symbol of legitimate authority granted by society. Someone without a uniform has less right to expect obedience

Answer 16

P- research support for the influence of situational variables, particularly uniform E- bickmans study involved confederates dressed in different outfits who issued demands to people on the streets of New York such as asking them to pick up litter. People were twice as likely to obey the security guard than the confederate wearing a jacket and a tie C- this supports the idea that situational factors affect obedience in this case the uniform ‘communicates’ the authority of the perceived authority figure. P- cross cultural replication of milgrams research E- for example Dutch Ps were ordered to say stressful comments to interviewees. They found that the baseline level of obedience was 90% and obedience fell when proximity decreased- when the E not present C- this shows that milgrams findings are not limited to American males but are generalisable across cultures, all cultures will feel less pressure to obey when proximity to the authority figure is decreased. C- however some researchers note that most replications took place in societies that are culturally similar to the USA (individualistic cultures) therefore we cannot conclude that milgrams findings about proximity, location and uniform apply to people in all cultures.

Answer 17

P- low internal validity in milgrams studies E- due to the extra manipulation involved, it is likely that the participants realised the situation was fake, particularly in the uniform variation. Even milgrams acknowledged that this situation was so artificial that many participants may have worked out the truth and just played along. C- therefore it’s unclear whether the results are due to obedience or because the participants saw the deception and play acted- influenced by DC. P- these situational variables have been criticised for providing an excuse for evil behaviour such as genocide E- milgrams findings from his variations support a situational explanation for obedience. However this explanation has been criticised as it offers an alibi. It could be seen as offensive to survivors of the holocaust to suggest that nazis were just obeying orders and were victims of situational factors- implying it was not their fault or responsibility. C- therefore this explanation can be seen as socially sensitive and controversial- the role of free will should also be considered when investigating obedient behaviour.

Answer 18

The agentic state Legitimacy of authority

Answer 19

In an agentic state a person feels no personal responsibility for their actions therefore are more likely to obey.

Answer 20

When people direct their own actions and they take responsibility for the results of those actions If you are in this state you are less likely to obey- often when no authority figure present

Answer 21

When people move autonomous to agentic Occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure- power over them

Answer 22

P- supporting research E- most of milgrams ps asked the experimenter who is responsible if the learner is harmed. The experimenter told them he is responsible and the Ps went through the procedure quickly without objecting- obeyed. C- this shows individuals are more likely to obey when they beleive they aren’t responsible for their own behaviour

Answer 23

P- contradictory research E- mandel found that some German police chose to shoot polish civilians even though this wasn’t a direct order and were given an option to be assigned other duties instead. C- this suggests that milgrams explanation is oversimplified and obedience is not always due to one factor (acting as an agent for the authority figure) in this case the police acted autonomously

Answer 24

We obey people further up a social hierarchy- some people in positions hold authority over the rest of us Authorities have legitimacy through societies agreement- power agreed by society- respect We hand control over to authority figures- have power to punish others and learn to accept authority during childhood. Leaders can use legitimate authority for destructive purposes- history shown that some leaders e.g. hitler use legitimate authority destructively, ordering people to behave in cruel and dangerous ways.

Answer 25

P- can explain cultural differences in obedience E- reserach shows that countries differ in obedience to authority. For example 16% of Australian women obeyed in a replication of milgrams study compared to 85% of German Ps. This may reflect the way children have been raised to perceive authority figures in different cultures. C- this supports the idea that an understanding of legitimate authority is learned during childhood and in some cultures, authority is less likely to be seen as legitimate.

Answer 26

P- contradictory evidence E- in milgrams study, 35% disobeyed, the ‘legitimate authority’ wearing a lab coat and would not accept the power they tried to exert over the situation, despite them having authority within the university lab setting. C- this suggests that innate tendencies towards obedience/disobedience may be more important than legitimacy of authority

Answer 27

The authoritarian personality Adorno believed that obedience is due to the individual themselves (their personality) which criticises milgrams because he believed obedience was due to external, situational factors such as location

Answer 28

Especially obedient to authority they: - have exaggerated respect for authority figures and are submissive to perceived authority figures. - express contempt for people they perceive as inferior -follow orders and view other groups as responsible for societies problems

Answer 29

Through harsh parenting characterised by: - extremely strict discipline -expectation of absolute loyalty -impossible high standards - severe criticism - conditional love

Answer 30

It creates resentment towards their parents but they cannot express their feelings directly (fear punishment) therefore they displace those feelings on who they see as inferior/weeker

Answer 31

Aim- to investigate unconscious attitudes towards order ethnic groups of more than2000 middle class white Americans Procedure- several scales were developed including the F-scale. Participants had to rate a series of statements from 1-6 6 being agree strongly. Findings- authoritarians (scored highly) identified with ‘strong’ people and had contempt for the weak, they showed excessive respect and obedience for those of a higher status As also showed fixed and distinctive steryotypes about other groups.

Answer 32

P- evidence linking the AP to high levels of obedience E- elms and milgrams interviewed 20 fully obedient participants from milgrams original obedience studies. They scored significantly higher on the F-scale than a comparison group of 20 disobedient ps C- this suggests that obedient people may share many of the characteristics of the people with AP However milgrams also found that situational variables such as uniform and location, impacted obedience. Therefore obedience to authority cannot be explained by just dispositional factors.

Answer 33

P- AP cannot explain situations where mass obedience has occurred E- for example millions of of individuals in Germany displayed obedient and anti- semantic behaviour, it is highly unlikely that they al had the exact same personality. C- therefore the AP explanation could be seen as simplistic and other explanations should be considered when explaining mass obedience e.g. the agentic state] P- Adorno created the AP explanation of obedience as well as conducting the supporting studies E- for example he may have shown researcher bias and interpreted /skewed the data from the f-scale to ensure that his explanation of obedience was supported C- this is a problem as it lowers the internal validity of the research meaning there may not actually be a link between the AP and obedience as previously believed. P-methodological issues involved in investigating the AP E- using a questionnaire such as the F-scale is problematic as Ps can answer questions in a socially desirable way for example change their answers to appear less prejudiced towards certain groups. Also some Ps may just agree to every statement (response bias) rather than reading the question carefully, which could lead to an inaccurate score. C- therefore this could decrease the IV of the questionnaire meaning we are still unclear about the link between the AP and levels of obedience.

Social Influence Flashcards

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