● A01 Milgram’s Study (1963)
Aim: to investigate the influence of authority figures when displaying harmful and
destructive behaviour, whether this would support his dispositional hypothesis on
holocaust perpetrators: Holocaust focused on the idea that something distinctive about
German culture or personality leads to the high levels of conformity for the genocide to
take place.
Procedure: Study sample consisted of 40 male ppts aged 20 to 50 years old form a range
of social classes. They volunteered from a newspaper advertisement, paying $4.50 for
their time to take part in an experiment on punishment and learning.. Took place in Yale
University where there were 2 experimental confederates: an authority figure in a lab coat
and a 47 yr old learner, who was always the learner. Ppts and learner drew lots which were
rigged so ppt was always teacher and confederate learner. The teacher tested the
confederates ability to remember word pairs. For each incorrect answer the teacher had
to administer electric shock. The teacher increases the shock levels by 15V increments up
to 450V. At 300 volts he banged on the wall and demanded to leave and at 315 volts he
became silent, to give the illusion that was unconscious, or even dead.The experiment
continued until the teacher refused to continue, or 450 volts was reached. If the teacher
tried to stop the experiment, the experimenter would respond with a series of prods, for
example: ‘The experiment requires that you continue.’
Findings: found that all of the real participants went to at least 300 volts and 65%
continued until the full 450 volts. Only 5 ppts (12.5%) stopped at 300v
Conclusion: Ordinary people can be obedient even when acting immorally. Suggesting
that it isn’t just evil people who commit evil acts but ordinary people obeying orders.
Seems as if one's own decision making is suspended in a subordinate position.
● A01: Situational factors
Proximity: in Milgram's original experiment the teacher could not see the learner,
only hear them and obedience was 65%. when both the teacher and learner were
in the same room obedience fell to 40%. This was because the teacher could
directly see their anguish and therefore did not move into the agentic state
where they are more likely to obey. In one proximity variation, the experimenter
left the room and gave instructions to the teacher via telephone. in this variation
obedience fell to 20.5% which suggests that, the closer an authority figure is to
an individual, the more obedient that individual will be, the researcher may have
lost legitimacy due to not being present
Location: Yale University is a prestigious university its high status gives it
credibility and respect in the eyes of ppts increasing the likelihood of obedience
when the location changed from a prestigious university to a seedy office in a
Aim: to investigate the influence of authority figures when displaying harmful and
destructive behaviour, whether this would support his dispositional hypothesis on
holocaust perpetrators: Holocaust focused on the idea that something distinctive about
German culture or personality leads to the high levels of conformity for the genocide to
take place.
Procedure: Study sample consisted of 40 male ppts aged 20 to 50 years old form a range
of social classes. They volunteered from a newspaper advertisement, paying $4.50 for
their time to take part in an experiment on punishment and learning.. Took place in Yale
University where there were 2 experimental confederates: an authority figure in a lab coat
and a 47 yr old learner, who was always the learner. Ppts and learner drew lots which were
rigged so ppt was always teacher and confederate learner. The teacher tested the
confederates ability to remember word pairs. For each incorrect answer the teacher had
to administer electric shock. The teacher increases the shock levels by 15V increments up
to 450V. At 300 volts he banged on the wall and demanded to leave and at 315 volts he
became silent, to give the illusion that was unconscious, or even dead.The experiment
continued until the teacher refused to continue, or 450 volts was reached. If the teacher
tried to stop the experiment, the experimenter would respond with a series of prods, for
example: ‘The experiment requires that you continue.’
Findings: found that all of the real participants went to at least 300 volts and 65%
continued until the full 450 volts. Only 5 ppts (12.5%) stopped at 300v
Conclusion: Ordinary people can be obedient even when acting immorally. Suggesting
that it isn’t just evil people who commit evil acts but ordinary people obeying orders.
Seems as if one's own decision making is suspended in a subordinate position.
● A01: Situational factors
Proximity: in Milgram's original experiment the teacher could not see the learner,
only hear them and obedience was 65%. when both the teacher and learner were
in the same room obedience fell to 40%. This was because the teacher could
directly see their anguish and therefore did not move into the agentic state
where they are more likely to obey. In one proximity variation, the experimenter
left the room and gave instructions to the teacher via telephone. in this variation
obedience fell to 20.5% which suggests that, the closer an authority figure is to
an individual, the more obedient that individual will be, the researcher may have
lost legitimacy due to not being present
Location: Yale University is a prestigious university its high status gives it
credibility and respect in the eyes of ppts increasing the likelihood of obedience
when the location changed from a prestigious university to a seedy office in a
