Variables Affecting Obedience

Question 1

What are the three variables that affect obedience?

Answer 1

Proximity, Location, Uniform

Question 2

How does proximity affect obedience according to Milgram’s research?

Answer 2

Obedience decreased with closer contact.

Variations included orders over the phone from experimenter from another room (obedience rates decreased), learner in the same room as participant and forcing the learner’s hand onto the shock plate (obedience rates decreased)

Question 3

What effect does location have on obedience in Milgram’s study?

Answer 3

Changing the location from Yale to a run-down office block decreased obedience.

This suggests that the setting influences authority perception.

Question 4

How does uniform influence obedience according to Bickman’s research?

Answer 4

Passers-by were most obedient to the security guard uniform and least to the jacket and tie.

This indicates that uniform increases perceived authority.

Question 5

What is one strength of research into obedience variables?

Answer 5

Findings support key explanations of obedience.

Proximity supports agentic/autonomous state, location supports legitimacy of authority, and uniform supports legitimacy of authority.

Question 6

What is another strength of Milgram’s studies on obedience?

Answer 6

High experimental control.

Only one variable changed at a time e.g. Location, everything else kept the same, allowing clear cause-and-effect conclusions.

Question 7

What is a limitation of research into obedience variables?

Answer 7

Nomothetic approach ignores individual differences.

Some participants disobeyed despite similar proximity, uniform, and location, suggesting personality factors may explain differences.