1. Obedience

2. Definition
Obedience
A type of social influence whereby someone acts in response to direct order from a perceived authority figure

3. Obedience Why do you think we obey authority?
Can you give examples of situations where we are obedient?
Why were you obedient in this situation?
EXTENSION: Why might it be argued that obedience is important and
some ways fundamental to our society?

4. Everyday Examples of Obedience
Student sitting still and quiet in class when teacher is present.
Following the orders given to you by a parent.
Doing what your boss tells you to do.

5. Why do you think we obey authority?
Human nature – dispositional
Experience teaches us authorities are generally trustworthy
We do as we’re told
Personality
Upbringing
We assume people have more knowledge or expertise
We don’t see consequences of actions
People dislike confrontation
We may be scared of consequences
We are taught to respect rules

6. What do all of these have in common?
The use of authority that is based in power. .

7. Give 2 examples of when obedience can have a negative consequence?
Without power authority usually has little influence, and therefore the authority figure is of low standing
Give 2 examples of when obedience can have a negative consequence?

8. Abuse of Authority?

11. Experiment on Obedience Yale University America
Stanley Milgram (1963)
Experiment on Obedience
Yale University America
‘Germans are different’ hypothesis

12. Milgram's Questions ... Why do we obey authority?
What conditions foster obedience?
What conditions foster independent behaviour?

13. BACKGROUND MILGRAM: JEWISH 1961 : 25 YEARS AFTER THE END OF WW2
OBEDIENCE MAY BE DEEPLY INGRAINED
ARE THE GERMANS DIFFERENT ?

14. Social Context WW2 ended in 1945
The behaviour of the German people during the the holocaust
The Nurenberg trials

15. The article by Hannah Arendt Eichmann in Jerusalem : a report on the banality of evil

16. The Study Aim was to test the ‘Germans are different hypothesis’.
Use of lab setting to ‘scientifically’ understand the variables that create obedience.

17. Milgram’s participants
Stanley Milgram (1963) - Experiment on Obedience
He placed an advert seeking volunteers for a memory and learning experiment at Yale University
It was a self selecting (volunteer) sample
He recruited 40 men between 20 and 50
They were paid $4.50 for one hour of their time (just for turning up!)

18. You can see that a wide range of occupations were sampled

19. Blue ball (1) hat (2) Sky (3) Dress (4)
The Experiment involved 3 people
a ‘learner’ a ‘teacher’ an ‘experimenter’
The ‘Learner’ and ‘experimenter’ were confederates of Milgram
The learner was strapped into chair with electrodes
The Teacher (ppt) was given a sample ‘electric shock’ of 45 volts
The Teacher is taken into an adjacent room – exp. about generator
Switches: 15 – 450 volts
The teacher believes the learner has had to learn a number of different word pairs like ‘blue hat’ ‘nice day’ ‘sharp knife’
The teacher then reads out a list of possible answers
Blue ball (1) hat (2) Sky (3) Dress (4)
The Teacher (ppt) was instructed to gives electric shocks to the ‘learner’ for every wrong answer
The Shock intensity increased each time
If teacher was unwilling they were urged to continue

21. The Prods used in Milgram’s experiment
The Learner was heard to be distressed and in pain
When Ps no longer wanted to continue they were verbally ‘prompted’
“Please continue (or please go on).”
“The experiment requires that you continue.”
“It is absolutely essential that you continue.”
“You have no other choice; you must go on.”

22. The Learner’s protests in the Milgram experiment

23. At what stage would you refuse to continue shocking the observer?
What percentage of Milgram’s participants went all the way to the end i.e. 450 volts?

24. PRIOR PREDICTIONS PSYCHIATRISTS MIDDLE CLASS ADULTS STUDENTS 120 v

25. Estimate > 3% would go up to 450 volts
270 volts heard ‘Screaming’
65% gave the maximum shock

26. REACTION OF PARTICIPANTS
SIGNS OF TENSION
14 NERVOUS LAUGHTER
3 HAD SIEZURES
SIGHS OF RELIEF, MOPPED THEIR BROW etc.
SOME REMAINED CALM THROUGHOUT

27. Conclusions
Ordinary people are astonishingly obedient to authority when asked to behave in an inhumane way
It is not necessarily evil people who commit evil crimes but ordinary people who are just obeying orders.
Crimes against humanity may be the outcome of situational rather than dispositional factors
An individuals capacity for making independent decisions is suspended under certain situational constraints – namely, being given an order by an authority figure

28. Was this experiment ethical?
What do you think?
If you were a member of an Ethics committee would you allow Milgram to repeat this study?
Why or why not?

29. Was this experiment valid?
Internal validity = ?
External validity = ?
Using your text books ensure you have these terms in your notes
Now apply them to Milgram… what did Orne & Holland (68) question? (pg 87)
What other evaluation points are there? Complete worksheet stop