Obedience
Situational Variables Affecting Obedience
Obedience refers to the type of social influence whereby somebody acts in response to a direct
order from a figure with perceived authority. The person issuing the order usually has the power to
punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.
Electric Shock Study – Milgram, 1963
Aim:
Milgram (1963) was interested in researching how far people would go in obeying an instruction
if it involved harming another person. Milgram was interested in how easily ordinary people
could be influenced into committing atrocities, for example, Germans in WW2.
Participants:
Volunteers were recruited through newspaper articles for a lab experiment investigating learning.
Participants were 40 males aged between 20 and 50.
Procedures:
The study took place in a laboratory in Yale. When participants arrived, there was the experimenter
and another participant (who was actually a confederate). They drew ‘rigged’ lots to see who
would be learner and who would be teacher. This was rigged so that the real participant was
always the teacher and the confederate ‘participant’ the learner.
The teacher was required to test the learner on their ability to remember word pairs. The ‘fake’
learner was in the room next door. Every time the learner got an incorrect answer, the teacher
had to administer an electric shock which increased in strength turn by turn (starting at 15 volts
and increasing incrementally to 450 volts). The teacher (participant) did not know that the
shocks were in fact fake until the end of the experiment.
The ‘learner’ was sat in a different room and gave mainly wrong answers and received shocks
(fake shocks) in silence until 300 volts at which they began to pound on the wall and give no
response to the next question, repeated at 315 volts and from then on said nothing and fell silent.
If the participant ‘teacher’ asked to stop at any point, the experimenter said ‘It is absolutely
essential you continue’ or ‘You have no other choice you must go on’
Findings:
26 out of the 40 (65%) continued to maximum shock level (450 volts).
All participants went to 300 volts with only 5 (12.5%) stopping there (the point where the learner
first objected)
Before the study, Milgram asked psychiatrists, college students and colleagues to predict how long
participants would go on before refusing to continue – they predicted no more than 3% would
administer 450 volts.
, Situational variable: variables related to the external circumstances rather than the personalities
(dispositional factors) of the people involved.
Situational variable Outcome
Proximity Proximity condition: Obedience levels fell to
- Proximity condition: Teacher and 40% as the teacher experienced the learner’s
learner in the same room anguish more directly
- Touch proximity condition: Teacher to Touch proximity condition: Obedience fell to
force learner’s hand on the shock plate 30%
- Experimenter absent condition: After Experimenter absent condition: Obedience
giving the instructions, the fell to 20.5% and some even continued to give
experimenter left the room and gave the weakest shock but told the experimenter
orders via the telephone they were giving stronger ones
Location Obedience rates dropped slightly to 47.5% but
- Milgram moved his study from Yale not significantly.
university (a prestigious location with
status) to a rundown office in
Bridgeport Connecticut.
Uniform Obedience rates dropped to 20%.
In the original study, the experimenter wore a
grey lab coat to signify authority.
In Milgram’s variation, the experimenter was
called away and the role was taken over by an
‘ordinary’ member of the public (a confederate)
who wore everyday clothes rather than a lab
coat.
A03
Point Evidence Conclusion
A limitation of Milgram’s All participants were male This means that the study
experiment is that it used a who volunteered by lacks population validity,
bias sample. responding to an and the findings cannot be
advertisement, and they generalised to females or
were only American men. be used to explain
Therefore, the sample obedience in other
suffered from both gender cultures.
and cultural bias.
A limitation of Milgram’s Orne and Holland (1958) Therefore, Milgram’s
experiment is that it has claimed that participants in findings lack internal
been criticised for lacking psychological studies have validity as many argue he
realism. learnt to distrust was merely testing
experimenters and know demand characteristics
rather than authentic
Situational Variables Affecting Obedience
Obedience refers to the type of social influence whereby somebody acts in response to a direct
order from a figure with perceived authority. The person issuing the order usually has the power to
punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.
Electric Shock Study – Milgram, 1963
Aim:
Milgram (1963) was interested in researching how far people would go in obeying an instruction
if it involved harming another person. Milgram was interested in how easily ordinary people
could be influenced into committing atrocities, for example, Germans in WW2.
Participants:
Volunteers were recruited through newspaper articles for a lab experiment investigating learning.
Participants were 40 males aged between 20 and 50.
Procedures:
The study took place in a laboratory in Yale. When participants arrived, there was the experimenter
and another participant (who was actually a confederate). They drew ‘rigged’ lots to see who
would be learner and who would be teacher. This was rigged so that the real participant was
always the teacher and the confederate ‘participant’ the learner.
The teacher was required to test the learner on their ability to remember word pairs. The ‘fake’
learner was in the room next door. Every time the learner got an incorrect answer, the teacher
had to administer an electric shock which increased in strength turn by turn (starting at 15 volts
and increasing incrementally to 450 volts). The teacher (participant) did not know that the
shocks were in fact fake until the end of the experiment.
The ‘learner’ was sat in a different room and gave mainly wrong answers and received shocks
(fake shocks) in silence until 300 volts at which they began to pound on the wall and give no
response to the next question, repeated at 315 volts and from then on said nothing and fell silent.
If the participant ‘teacher’ asked to stop at any point, the experimenter said ‘It is absolutely
essential you continue’ or ‘You have no other choice you must go on’
Findings:
26 out of the 40 (65%) continued to maximum shock level (450 volts).
All participants went to 300 volts with only 5 (12.5%) stopping there (the point where the learner
first objected)
Before the study, Milgram asked psychiatrists, college students and colleagues to predict how long
participants would go on before refusing to continue – they predicted no more than 3% would
administer 450 volts.
, Situational variable: variables related to the external circumstances rather than the personalities
(dispositional factors) of the people involved.
Situational variable Outcome
Proximity Proximity condition: Obedience levels fell to
- Proximity condition: Teacher and 40% as the teacher experienced the learner’s
learner in the same room anguish more directly
- Touch proximity condition: Teacher to Touch proximity condition: Obedience fell to
force learner’s hand on the shock plate 30%
- Experimenter absent condition: After Experimenter absent condition: Obedience
giving the instructions, the fell to 20.5% and some even continued to give
experimenter left the room and gave the weakest shock but told the experimenter
orders via the telephone they were giving stronger ones
Location Obedience rates dropped slightly to 47.5% but
- Milgram moved his study from Yale not significantly.
university (a prestigious location with
status) to a rundown office in
Bridgeport Connecticut.
Uniform Obedience rates dropped to 20%.
In the original study, the experimenter wore a
grey lab coat to signify authority.
In Milgram’s variation, the experimenter was
called away and the role was taken over by an
‘ordinary’ member of the public (a confederate)
who wore everyday clothes rather than a lab
coat.
A03
Point Evidence Conclusion
A limitation of Milgram’s All participants were male This means that the study
experiment is that it used a who volunteered by lacks population validity,
bias sample. responding to an and the findings cannot be
advertisement, and they generalised to females or
were only American men. be used to explain
Therefore, the sample obedience in other
suffered from both gender cultures.
and cultural bias.
A limitation of Milgram’s Orne and Holland (1958) Therefore, Milgram’s
experiment is that it has claimed that participants in findings lack internal
been criticised for lacking psychological studies have validity as many argue he
realism. learnt to distrust was merely testing
experimenters and know demand characteristics
rather than authentic
