Social Psychology Lecture 14

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Social Psychology Lecture 14

• Obedience and deindividuation
• Jane Clarbour
• Room PS/B007 email jc129

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Objectives

• Give an account of the design of the Milgram
  experiments on obedience to authority
• Specify how obedience is affected by variations
  in the experimental conditions
• Distinguish between conformity and obedience as
  processes of social influence

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The Milgram studies (1974)

• Obedience as a determinant of behaviour, is of
  particular relevance to our time.
• It has been reliably established that from
  1933-1945, millions of innocent people were
  systematically slaughtered on command.
• Gas chambers were built, death camps were
  guarded, daily quotas of corpses were produced
  with the same efficiency as the manufacture of
  appliances.
• These inhumane policies may have originated in
  the mind of a singe person, but they could only
  be carried out on a massive scale if a very large
  number of people obeyed orders
• (Millgram, 1963, pp. 371)

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Hitlers influence on social psychology

• People became concerned about social issues
• what causes violence?
• What causes prejudice?
• What causes genocide?
• Why do people conform?
• What makes people obey others when instructions
  go against their own judgment?

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Teacher-learner paradigm

• The paired-associate learning task
• Ss acts as a teacher in a learning situation
• The S reads a series of word-pairs to the learner
• S reads the first word of the pair with 4 other
  words
• Learner has to select correct word out of the 4
  words
• Learner is a confederate
• Gives predetermined responses to learning task
• Gives 1 in 3 wrong answers

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Milgrams design

• Teacher (Ss) has to administer shock to learner
  on incorrect response
• Shocks get progressively higher on each incorrect
  response (15 volts to 450 volts, 15 volt
  increments)
• Danger Severe Shock

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Milgrams instructions to teachers

• If S questions the experimenter if should
  continue to increase shock level, told by E
• must continue the experiment
• Prod 1 Please continue
• Prod 2 The experiment requires that you continue
• Prod 3 It is absolutely essential that you
  continue
• Prod 4 You have no other choice, you must go on
• (Prods 3 4 are orders)

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Summary of film footage of one encounter
 Milgrim predicted that less than one percent
would go to the end. How many did? 26 out of 40
(65) of subjects went to the end of this
experiment.
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Experimental conditions

• Design was varied so that PROXIMITY of Teacher
  to learner was varied
• Condition 1 Remote feedback
• Condition 2 Voice feedback (the standard
  situation)
• Condition 3 Same proximity
• Condition 4 Physical contact

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The Milgram experiments Further variations
controls

• (All in the standard situation using the voice
  feedback condition)
• Weak heart condition
• Victim mentions before experiment begins that he
  has a slightly weak heart!
• 65 still go to 450v
• Sex differences
• Using female S (male E learner)
• 50 still go to 450v (only 12.5 less than men)

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The Milgram experiments Factors that do affect
obedience

• Closeness of authority
• Orders given by Experimenter over the phone
• Obedience dropped to 20
• Ss administered lower than required level of
  shock
• Freedom of choice
• Ss free to choose shock level
• 95 didnt continue after learners 1st protest

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Summary2 factors that contribute to obedience

• 1                  Psychophysical distance
• 2                  Diffusion of responsibility
• Subjects are in an unfamiliar environment making
  uninformed decisions
• Social Comparison Theory
• when people are uncertain, they compare thoughts,
  feelings, and actions with those around them.

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Replications in different contexts and cultures

• MEES RAAIJMAKERS (1986)
• Job application task (Dutch)
• Victim was applicant for job who came to Psych
  dept to take test
• Ss told in context of research project to make
  applicant nervous through comments on test
• If you continue like this you will fail
• Ss aware that victim failed test and remained
  unemployed
• 90 still continued although felt unfair
• This effect higher than Milgrams lab stuff

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Conclusions

• Milgrams experiments demonstrated strong level of
  social influence
• Is this the same influence as in the Asch
  conformity experiments?
• Milgram argues there are a number of important
  differences between obedience and conformity.
• Obedience is hierarchical, whereas conformity
  takes place between equals.
• Conformity involves imitation, whereas obedience
  does not.
• Obedience involves explicit instructions, whereas
  conformity is usually implicit.
• People usually deny conformity in explaining
  their behaviour, but will acknowledge obedience.