Social Influence

Obedience – Situational Variables

Variation in situational variables
• Milgram examined
variations in
situational variables
that affect the level
of obedience
observed in people
 Original study
• In Milgram’s original
study teacher and
learner were in
different rooms
• While the teacher
could hear the learner,
they were unable to
see them
 Increase in Proximity
• When learner and teacher
were located in the same
room, obedience rates
dropped significantly
• If teacher was required to
force learner’s hand onto
‘electroshock plate’
obedience reduced to
30%
 Reduction in Proximity
• If the experimenter left the room
and teachers were alone in the
room and received instructions
by telephone obedience
reduced further to only 20.5%
• In this condition, participants
were more likely to pretend to
give shocks or reduced the
voltage of the shocks they
administered
 Location
• When the location of the
experiment was changed
from Yale University to a
run-down office building
obedience reduced to 47.5%
• Although a relatively small
reduction, it further
demonstrates the impact of
situational variables on
obedience
 Uniform
• When the
experimenter was
replaced by a
member of the public
in regular clothing,
obedience fell to its
lowest level of 20%
Variation of situational factors
 Variations
• SOCIAL SUPPORT
– Two other participants (confederates)
assigned as teachers
– Confederates refused to obey
– First confederate stopped at 150 volts,
second at 210 volts
– Obedience reduced to 10%
 The Effect of Rebellious Peers on Obedience to Authority

100

90

80 Confederate #1
Subject Alone
defies authority
70
Percent of Subjects Obeying
60

50

40 Confederate #2
defies authority
30
Subject w ith Tw o
20
Peers Who Rebel
10

0
Slight Moderate Strong Very Strong Intense Extreme Danger: Maximum
Intensity Severe Shock (450
Shock v.)
Shock Voltage Level
Support for impact of situational variables
• Bickman (1974)
– 3 confederates dressed in different outfits
• jacket and tie
• milkman’s outfit
• security guard’s uniform
– Asked passers-by to pick up litter or give coin for parking
meter
– Twice as likely to obey security guard than other confederates
• Supports the role of external appearance - uniform
 Lack of internal validity
• Orne and Holland criticised Milgram’s
studies for lacking internal validity
• Participants may have seen through the
deception and realised that the
experimental set up was fake making their
behaviour less informative and reducing
the validity of the findings
 Cross-cultural replications
• Milgram’s findings have been shown to have cross-
cultural validity
• Replicated across different cultures
• Miranda et al. (1981)
– Obedience rate of over 90% in Spanish students
– Not limited to America and not limited to male participants
• Smith & Bond (1998)
– Replications all from Western cultures
– Results may differ in more radically different cultures
Apply it