4. Situational Variables

(Evaluation) Uniform (+)

*Supporting Evidence (Bickman)* *Field Experiment* : Street of New York *3 male experimenters* - 1 dressed in smart clothes (civilian) - 1 dressed as a milk man - 1 dressed in a security guard uniform, looks like police man Gave orders to pedestrians walking by Participants ↑ likely to obey experimenter dressed as a guard, than milkman/civilian → O is related to the amount of perceived authority

(Evaluation) Proximity (+)

*Supporting recent research (Slater, 2006)* Replication study using a virtual environment - Participants were instructed to shock the learner via text message = Highest O.level in all participants

Identified 3 factors that influence obedience, which are...

1) Proximity 2) Location 3) Uniform

2 Location variations

*Building in Bridgeport, Connecticut* O. Rate ↓ to 47.5% → Suggests location could affect o. rates *Basement at Yale University* = Students still knew it was a study at Yale Uni Little affect on O. rate

(Evaluation) Overall (-)

*Demand Characteristics in the studies* O&H claimed OG study seemed fake → More likely this happened in variation studies, since more manipulations (eg. when part. had to force learner's hand onto shock plate, they may have seen through deception, and acted accordingly)

(Evaluation) Uniform (-)

*Hard to know if it is the Uniform, or other factors that affects O.levels* Ordinary man not only lacked uniform, but also scientific expertise & credibility of normal experimenter

3 Proximity variations

*Learner not seen/heard* = O. level ↑ to 66% *Teacher & Learner seated in the same room* = O. Level ↓ to 40% *Teacher required to force learner's hand onto shock plate* = O.level ↓ to 30%

(Evaluation) Location (-)

*Legitimacy of Authority is a ↑ significant factor* Research only showed that changes to location weakens the experimenter's authority & credibility, that produces large reductions in obedience *∴* Legitimacy of authority is more important than location, to create high levels of obedience

Uniform variation in Milgram

Experimenter called away, and an ordinary man(confederate) took over the experimenter's role = Only 20% were totally obedient

Uniform in most of Milgram's Study

Experimenter wore a white coat = Indicated to participants that he has scientific expertise = ↑ Obedience to authority

Possible Conclusion

Seems clear situational factors do affect obedience. However, to what extent is unclear. Also, hard to isolate 1 variable, and be certain that this is the only factor affecting people's behaviour

3) How uniform influence obedience

Wearing an uniform usually means that individual has legitimate authority → we are taught to do as we are ordered from someone with the appropriate authority & legitimacy.

2) Location in Milgram

M thought Yale University may have contributed to high o. levels → it gave experimenter social power as a legitimate authority.

Reicher et al on Proximity

Milgram situation depends on whether part. identify with learner OR experimenter. Closer proximity of participant & learner = Identified ↑ with learner, ↓ with experimenter

1) Proximity in Milgram

Part. ↑ willing to give shocks if learner's plight was ↓ obvious

How did Milgram explore situational factors that influence obedience?

Replicated his experiments with 18 variations