Obedience

Obedience

1. Obedience is complying with the demands of an authority figure.

   • It is generally one-on-one but can also be a group of people.

2. Milgram did a study in which 40 American male volunteers took part what they thought was an experiment about the effects of punishment on learning.

   • The real participant was a 'teacher' and a confederate was the 'learner'.
   • The participant believed they were giving the learner electric shocks when they got an answer wrong. These shocks went up by 15V every time up to 450V which could be lethal.
   • The learner was in an adjacent room to the teacher, so the participant couldn't see what was happening.
   • Before the experiment began, the participant received a genuine 45V shock, to convince them it was real.

3. The obedience rate showed 62.5% going to the full 450V.

   • Many participants showed signs of distress such as twitching, sweating or giggling nervously, digging their nails into the flesh of their arms and verbally attacking the experimenter.
   • Three participants had seizures.
   • Some participants showed little or no signs of discomfort.

4. Evaluation.

   • Milgram's paradigm has been used across many countries. These can be quite hard to compare but varying obedience rates were found e.g. 40% in Australia, 50% in Spain. This may be due to cultural differences towards authority.
   • Milgram's experiment was intended as a pilot study, but because of the high obedience rate he continued and made his variations.
   • It was hoped that since his study blind obedience rates would decrease but they have not.

5. Variations:

   • Victim is silent throughout - 100%
   • Study is performed in a run-down office block - 48%
   • Teacher only reads out the words, a confederate gives the shock - 92.5%
   • Teacher is paired with two disobedient confederates - 10%

6. Ethical issues:

   • Psychological harm.
     • Milgram exposed his participants to severe stress, however, only 2% had any regrets and 74% said they had learned something useful about themselves.
   • Deception and informed consent.
     • Only after participants agreed to take part were electric shocks mentioned.
     • Participants didn't know the true nature of the study.
   • Right to withdraw.
     • Milgram argued that participants did have a right to withdraw, and 35% did, however the right to withdraw was not specified beforehand and were given many 'verbal prods' to continue.

7. Naughty nurses study.

   • 21/22 nurses. 20mg rather than 10mg. Unfamiliar drug. Unfamiliar doctor. Authorisation not signed.

8. Explanations.

   • Situational factors.
   • Perception of legitimate authority.
   • The agentic state.
   • Personal responsibility.
   • Gradual commitment.