Obedience Today

Milgram (1963) Germans are different! His work suggested otherwise! 65% of his American participants continued to the highest level of 450 volts ~ possible death!

So was it just Germans and American Men in Universities then? In total 636 participants were tested in 18 different variations of the study.

Findings… ‘Ordinary member of the public’ ( a confederate) in everyday clothes rather than a lab coat. The obedience level dropped to 20%.

Findings… Experiment was moved to a set of run down offices rather than the impressive Yale University. Obedience dropped to 47.5%

Findings… When participants could instruct an assistant (confederate) to press the switches: 92.5% shocked to the maximum 450 volt

Findings… If the teacher had to force the learner's hand down onto a shock plate. Obedience fell to 30%.

Findings… The presence of others who are seen to disobey the authority figure reduces the level of obedience. Obedience reduced to 10%.

Findings… When the experimenter instructed and prompted the teacher by telephone from another room. Obedience fell to 20.5%.

Findings… Women were also later found to have the same obedience levels as men

Other studies found… Australia had a 68% obedience level (Kilham and Mann 1974) Jordan had a 63% level of obedience (Shanab and Yahya 1977) Germany had the highest obedience level at 85% (Mantell 1971)

Why are we obedient then…? Milgram (1974) suggests we have two states of behaviour when in a social situation: Agentic state Autonomous state

Agentic state People allow others to direct their actions. They pass the responsibility for the consequences to the person giving the orders ~ not themselves. So, they act as agents for another person’s will. Aka Agency Theory

Autonomous state People direct their own actions. Take responsibility for the results/consequences of those actions.

Agentic State To enter agentic state: Those giving orders are perceived as being qualified to direct other people’s behaviour. That is, they are seen as legitimate. Those being ordered are able to believe that the authority will accept responsibility for what happens.

Agency Theory Says that people will obey authority when they believe that the authority will take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. This supports some aspects of Milgram’s evidence: Participants who were refusing to go on did so if the experimenter said that he would take responsibility.

Critical Evaluation of Milgram’s Study  Conducted in laboratory type conditions ~ does this tells us much about real-life situations?

Experimental Realism Orne & Holland (1968) suggest Milgram’s study lacked ‘experimental realism’, i.e. participants might not have believed the experimental set-up they found themselves in and knew the learner was not really receiving electric shocks.

Milgram's Sample was Biased… Participants in Milgram's study were all male. Not representative of the American population, sample was self-selected. Responded to a newspaper advertisement. They may also have a typical "volunteer personality“.

But… 636 participants were tested in 18 separate studies across New Haven area, seen as being reasonably representative of a typical American town.

But… Milgram’s findings have been replicated in a variety of cultures and in some cases see higher obedience rates. Smith & Bond (1998) point out that the majority of these studies have been conducted in industrialized Western cultures.

Ethical Issues ~ Where do you Start? Deception Protection of participants Right to Withdrawal

Real Word? Hofling (1966) created a more realistic study of obedience than Milgram’s by carrying out field studies on nurses who were unaware that they were involved in an experiment.

Hofling (1966) Dr. Smith (a stooge) phones the nurses (on 22 separate occasions) and asks them to check to see if they have the drug Astroten.  When they check, they see the maximum dosage is supposed to be 10mg.  

They were told to administer 20mg of the drug to a patient called ‘Mr They were told to administer 20mg of the drug to a patient called ‘Mr. Jones’.  Dr. Smith was in a hurry and he would sign the authorization form when he came to see Mr. Jones later on. The drugs were fake. Harmless.

21 out of 22 (95%) nurses carried out the orders.

Hofling Hofling Study

They broke hospital rules: 1. They are not allowed to accept instructions over the phone. 2. The dose was double the maximum limit stated on the box.

Hofling demonstrated that people are very unwilling to question ‘authority’, even when they might have good reason to. Study has high levels of ecological validity, it was conducted in a real life environment. However, it broke ethical guideline of deception.

Milgram and Hitler