1. Nature of Obedience

2. 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?

3. 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’.

4. 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

5. 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%

6. 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.

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

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

9. 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?

10. 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?