Factors Affecting Obedience
Situational Factors
Sidanius & Pratto 1999
French & Raven 1959
Suggested a person is said to have high social dominance when s/he wants their own group to prevail - reject the views of others
Reasons the authority figure gives to justify people obeying an order - research shows if you watch peer disobeying the order, then levels of obedience will be low
Past experiences affect obedience
Gretchen Brandt
Refused to go past 210V as she'd lived through Nazi Germany & has seen too much pain, she didn't want to live another horrifying experience
Type of power held by an individual determines amount of obedience shown in particular situations - 5 forms of power
Coercive
Expert
Referent
Legitimate
Held by those in certain roles, usually authority
Reward
Held by those who can punish another
Help by those with knowledge
Held by those who are able to win people over with their charm & rhetoric
Held by those with certain resources
Gender Factors
Hofling 1966
95% of nurses about to before being stopped & questioned by the reseacher
USA study on female nurses who received phone calls from new doc on shift (Dr Smith)
Asked if she could administer 10mg of Astrogen so could take affect before his round
Clearly stated 10mg = max dose
Personality Factors
Authoritarian personality
Show obedience to authority
Adorno et al
Authoritarian personality characterised by excessive & blind obedience to authority & lack of tolerance to those who don't have the same respect to authority figure
Blass 1991
Found links between internal locus of control (blame themselves) & resistance to obedience in Milgrams studies - people who refused to administer electric shocks displayed strong tendencies of self blame
Conducted meta-analysis of 9 different studies using Milgram's procedures on male & female participants - found only 1 study in Australia produced a difference between males & females levels of obedience
Hyman & Sheatsley 1954
Authoritarian personality more likely to exist among those who're less educated & have lower socio-economic status
Links to developmental approach as suggests authoritarian personality results from early socialisation
Cultural Factors
Smith & Bond 1998
People who belong to individualistic cultures - more likely to behave independently than those from collectivist cultures
Individualistic Cultures
More concerned with individual success, stress needs of individuals rather than whole group - seen as independent & autonomous people
e.g. American & British
Miranda et al 1981
90% of student from Spain likely to obey in repeat of Milgram's study - only 50% of male participants obeyed in the UK
Collectivist Cultures
Group decision making is highly valued - emphasise group needs - relationships & interconnectedness between members pay role in each persons identity
e.g. China & Japan
Tajfel 1970
Wanted to find out if prejudice could still occur in absence of competition or history
64 boys - 14/15 yrs from Bristol
Groups of 8, all in same form
Shown dots & had to estimate how many - told were in groups based on accuracy of prediction (even though groups randomly allocated)
Told they had to allocate money using matrix to other groups - found they would allocate significantly more money to own groups