Explanations of why people obey
incl:
Independent behaviour..resisting social influence
Individual differences in independent behaviour
Implications for social change.
Validity of
obedience research.
• Realism- Orne & Holland challenged the realism of the study,
most people know to distrust ‘investigations’ thus distrust was the
reason behind the shocking (sorry!) result.
• Generalisability- Hofling et al (1966), Rank & Jacobson
(1975) both real life and realistic, both with opposing results.
• Obedience alibi-Eichman suggested he was doing his job•
Milgram suggested this was as a result of the agentic shift However:
Major Wilhelm Trapp offered soldiers to partake in other duties if
they found the killing of Jews an uneasy duty.
• Proximity- Well…the killers walked their victims to their
death. This should have produced empathy!
• Presence of allies- Several did not partake in the
killings, but the majority did..in theory they should have said no!
Review of learning.
• Outline three obedience studies
• Describe three evaluative points
• Provide a counter argument showing
Milgrams work was high in validity
• Present evidence that Milgrams research was
low in validity.
• Describe two ethical issues and how Milgram
attempted to deal with these issues.
So why do people obey?
• Gradual commitment- Having committed to one course of action i.e
the shocks, it is difficult to say no to other requests aka the foot in the door effect.
• Agentic Shift-When an individual moves from an autonomous (independent,
thinking for themselves to an agentic state where they now see themselves as acting on
behalf of another).
• The role of Buffers- Cruise missile vs. the shooting an individual face to face.
The immediacy of ones action is not present in the case of a cruise missile thus buffering
allows for a willingness to obey.
• The less well known defence-Justification. By giving
individuals a justification dissenters in Milgrams study were able to find a reason aka
justification for their actions (the experiment must continue, he said it was real important).
So what do others say about
(AO2)
Milgram?
Soldiers carried out
Mandel(1998) suggested
the explanations given
are over simplified.
Goldhagen(1996)
suggested prejudice &
discrimination as the
major cause of Holocaust
rather than obedience.
killings over months,
even years Milgams Ps
only experienced ½ hour.
Ps were adv no harm can
come to learner..soldiers
knew they were killing
people.
Can Agency theory really
explain this behaviour?
(AO2)
(AO2)
Milgram claimed his work offered situational
explanation
Mandel suggested: To say Just obeying ordersdistressing for those affected.
Given the historical analysis of the event to
suggest it was mere obedience is unjustified!
Review of learning
• Identify and explain two reasons why people
obey
• Give two criticisms of Milgrams explanations
• Use your knowledge of why people obey to
explain two examples of behaviour reported in
the media that might be attributed to
obedience.
Independent behaviour..resisting
social influence
• Resisting pressure to
conform
• Resisting pressure to
obey
•
•
•
•
Insights from Aschs studies Having a
ally makes them feel they are right (ISI)
Moral considerations want to be liked
(NSI) more likely to go with majority
even in the case of cheating!
Nonconformist personality usually
unconcerned with social norms (Nail et
al 2000). Intentionally choose to
oppose often based on strong
convictions.
REMEMBER : INDEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR
•
•
Insights from Milgrams work When
victim could be seen or had allies
obedience lowered…thus having
consequence of actions & social
support increase resistance.
Moral considerations Behaviour based
on moral principles (Think Heinz!) were
more defiant in experiment . Those at
lower/restricted levels of morality
more obedient.
Social heroism Putting oneself at risk in
pursuit of justice. Can lead to loss of
status, credibility and even
freedom..(think Nelson Mandela!)
Both successful
Both display independent
behaviours
Both have a positive attributional
style.
• They resist influence/coercion
• They have strong locus of
control.
• = money!!
• = Status!!
• = SUCCESS!!
Implications for social
change.
• Conformity- Terrorism is a form of social change
through persistence & conformity to zeitgeist.
• Obedience- Disobedient models empower others
(Civil rights, gay rights, votes for women!)
• Independent behaviour research- Dissent can be
effective and although disobedient can effect
positive change (Ghandi, Rosa Parks).
Review of learning
• Describe four implications for social change from
research into social influence.
• For each implication outline a piece of supporting
research.
• When answering questions on this area you
should…..outline the relevant psychology then
illustrate clearly how this has been associated
with social change.