Nature of Obedience

What is obedience? Social Influence – following direct instructions from a figure perceived to be in authority – comply or defy. Who do you consider to be authority figures?

Key Study – Milgram’s Shocking Study Aims – Will people obey to a perceived authority figure even when the instructions are unreasonable? Ppts – 40 males – paid whether they completed the exp or not. 2 confederates an ‘experimenter’ and a ‘learner’.

Conclusions and Evaluation That ‘ordinary’ people are astonishingly willing to obey to authority, no matter the instruction. Don’t make independent decisions when authority figure is involved. Ecological Validity Individual differences Psychological harm/ethics

Milgram’s Variations (1974) Carried out 18 variations to discover why obedience was so high. This also tested for the affect of situational factors. Obedient peers – 92.5% Proximity – 42% (when the ‘teacher’ could neither see nor hear the ‘learner’ it rose to 100%) Touch – 32% Authority proximity – 23% Presence of allies – 12% Given no instructions – 2.5%

Real life studies Hofling et al, 1966, Nurse study. (Rank and Jacobson, 1977) Bickman (1974), Parking meter study. Why does perception of authority (uniform, surroundings, etc) evoke unquestioning obedience? People obey orders without thinking of a) what they are being asked to do and b) the consequences for other living things.

Situational vs individual Proximity of victim Gender Proximity of authority Experience Presence of allies

Why do people obey? Psychological processes Socialisation Gradual Commitment Agentic and Autonomous behaviour The role of buffers

Is all obedience bad? What would happen in an ER if everyone stopped to question every order? What would happen in a war situation? What would happen in a fire?

Private Milkin Ordered to set booby traps in a nearby playground. When he looks around he sees that others have already started. What is he likely to do? How will he feel about it? What factors might make him likely to disobey?