'Social Psychology Specifics Summary'
BUT will signpost a counterpoint / development point
MILGRAM
Milgram 1963
● 40 white middle class aged 20–50 US males, $4 incentive
● Advertised as how punishment affects learning (deception)
● 100% went to at least 300v
● 65% went to maximum 450v (lethal)
● Moral strain: ‘sweating’, ‘trembling’, 3 passed out
● 4 verbal prods: ‘please continue’, ‘it is absolutely essential
that you continue’
Milgram variation studies
Location, proximity, uniform
● Location: Bridgeport, Connecticut (vs Yale University,
prestigious), run-down office building, sparsely furnished
○ Number of participants drop from 65% → 47.5%
for 450v shock
○ More signs of doubt, ask more questions. Not as
important as authority figure
● Proximity:
○ Experimenter leaves teacher alone (vs sitting at a desk
directly behind) after giving initial instructions
○ Subsequent instructions and questions asked over
phone, 4 verbal prods on telephone
, ○ From 65% → 22.5%
● Uniform:
○ Confederate in ordinary clothes enters, Mr Williams does
not tell to increase voltage (vs white lab coat)
○ Suggests new way of doing study: increasing voltage by
15v per mistake
○ Obedience from 65% → 20%
Milgram’s Agency Theory
● Obedience is survival trait inherited in genes via evolution,
needed for society to function
● Autonomous state is acting on own free will, feel guilt, take
responsibility and operate on own or with peers of lower
status
● Agentic state from agentic shift when confronted by authority
figure, follow orders, acting as agent, do not feel responsible
nor guilt — reducing moral strain
● Legitimate authority when a person has right to give order
and enforce obedience, symbol of authority and high status
● Orders against conscience cause moral strain as mental
discomfort, not sufficient to provoke dissent in most people
Burger 2009
● Partial replication to explore whether people still obey in
contemporary society and if findings from 1963 are era-bound
BUT will signpost a counterpoint / development point
MILGRAM
Milgram 1963
● 40 white middle class aged 20–50 US males, $4 incentive
● Advertised as how punishment affects learning (deception)
● 100% went to at least 300v
● 65% went to maximum 450v (lethal)
● Moral strain: ‘sweating’, ‘trembling’, 3 passed out
● 4 verbal prods: ‘please continue’, ‘it is absolutely essential
that you continue’
Milgram variation studies
Location, proximity, uniform
● Location: Bridgeport, Connecticut (vs Yale University,
prestigious), run-down office building, sparsely furnished
○ Number of participants drop from 65% → 47.5%
for 450v shock
○ More signs of doubt, ask more questions. Not as
important as authority figure
● Proximity:
○ Experimenter leaves teacher alone (vs sitting at a desk
directly behind) after giving initial instructions
○ Subsequent instructions and questions asked over
phone, 4 verbal prods on telephone
, ○ From 65% → 22.5%
● Uniform:
○ Confederate in ordinary clothes enters, Mr Williams does
not tell to increase voltage (vs white lab coat)
○ Suggests new way of doing study: increasing voltage by
15v per mistake
○ Obedience from 65% → 20%
Milgram’s Agency Theory
● Obedience is survival trait inherited in genes via evolution,
needed for society to function
● Autonomous state is acting on own free will, feel guilt, take
responsibility and operate on own or with peers of lower
status
● Agentic state from agentic shift when confronted by authority
figure, follow orders, acting as agent, do not feel responsible
nor guilt — reducing moral strain
● Legitimate authority when a person has right to give order
and enforce obedience, symbol of authority and high status
● Orders against conscience cause moral strain as mental
discomfort, not sufficient to provoke dissent in most people
Burger 2009
● Partial replication to explore whether people still obey in
contemporary society and if findings from 1963 are era-bound
