Summary #5 your wish is my command?
What is obedience?
Change of behavior due to commands coming from an authority figure.
The norm of obedience entails the social norm that be are supposed to give in/listen to
authority figures.
What influences obedience?
Situational factors
1. Immediacy
Victim
The closer the victim > the less obedience (to the cue to electrocute the learner)
Experiment
Proximity condition 65% > 40%
Touch-proximity condition 65% > 30%
Experimenter
The closer the experiment > the more obedience
Experiment
Authority figure gives cues through the phone > obedience significantly drops.
2. Legitimacy
Environment
Legitmate environment > + obedience
Experiment
Conducted at Yale resulted = more obedience opposed to the experiment being
conducted in an office building in town.
Authority figure
More obedience if the authority figure looks/presents himself as legitimate
Experiment
More obedience in case a legitimate/expert experimenter is present than when the
experimenter has to leave and a confederate takes over the role of experimenter
(before explaining the experiment)
3. Peers/group
2 rebellious peers
Fellow dissenters strongly diminish the amount of obedience in the experiment.
2 obedient peers
Fellow obedient confederates promote obedience
This influence is a result of social referencing in a new situation
4. Gradual escalation
Gradually asking for more and more obedience. The test subject is in moving forward
at a high pace > unaware of effects of its actions.
Also, a test subject is gradually moving forward in the experiment. Once the subject
realizes that what he/she is doing is wrong, they refuse to be inconsistent and decide
to continue.
5. Agentic state
When someone else takes responsibility for an action you are performing. (You are
just the agent of the action) you will be less inhibited to follow the order because you
cannot be held responsible > + obedience
What is obedience?
Change of behavior due to commands coming from an authority figure.
The norm of obedience entails the social norm that be are supposed to give in/listen to
authority figures.
What influences obedience?
Situational factors
1. Immediacy
Victim
The closer the victim > the less obedience (to the cue to electrocute the learner)
Experiment
Proximity condition 65% > 40%
Touch-proximity condition 65% > 30%
Experimenter
The closer the experiment > the more obedience
Experiment
Authority figure gives cues through the phone > obedience significantly drops.
2. Legitimacy
Environment
Legitmate environment > + obedience
Experiment
Conducted at Yale resulted = more obedience opposed to the experiment being
conducted in an office building in town.
Authority figure
More obedience if the authority figure looks/presents himself as legitimate
Experiment
More obedience in case a legitimate/expert experimenter is present than when the
experimenter has to leave and a confederate takes over the role of experimenter
(before explaining the experiment)
3. Peers/group
2 rebellious peers
Fellow dissenters strongly diminish the amount of obedience in the experiment.
2 obedient peers
Fellow obedient confederates promote obedience
This influence is a result of social referencing in a new situation
4. Gradual escalation
Gradually asking for more and more obedience. The test subject is in moving forward
at a high pace > unaware of effects of its actions.
Also, a test subject is gradually moving forward in the experiment. Once the subject
realizes that what he/she is doing is wrong, they refuse to be inconsistent and decide
to continue.
5. Agentic state
When someone else takes responsibility for an action you are performing. (You are
just the agent of the action) you will be less inhibited to follow the order because you
cannot be held responsible > + obedience
