Social Influence

~ Milgram Study of obedience ~

ü 40 men answered a newspaper adversitment – volunteer for the experiment paid $4.50 

ü Experimenter created independent variable and the dependent variable = how far in volts the participant would go to shock the learner 

ü Experimenter wore grey lab coats 

ü Wrong answer from learner = shock given. Correct answer = no shocks given. 

ü Voltage went from 15 volts to maximum of 450 volts creating a gradual commitment. 

ü Learner, teacher and experimenter

ü Prods ‘please continue’, ‘the experiment requires you to continue’, ‘it is absolutely essential that you continue’, ‘you have no other choice but to continue’. 

ü Extreme tension in one participant -  1 had seizure 

ü All went to 300 volts 

ü 14 defied experimenter – remained autonomous

ü 26 obeyed to the end gave 450 volts – agentic shift 

Evaluation: 

ü Internal validity – created a situation in which the participants believed to be true – evidence of strong reactions. 

ü Ethics – the debrief was through 84% participants were pleased to have taken part 

ü Supported by Bickman – field experimenter dressed as either milkman, police officer or civilian. These men asked passerbys to either pick up a bag or provide money for the parking meter. Passerbys more likely to obey the man in police uniform. Supports ecological validity high levels of obedience exists in real life. 

×     Informed consent – no informed consent participants were stressed and not protected even after meeting the unharmed learner at the end of the experiment. 

×     Lacks mundane realism the task does not reflect real life situations for obedience.