SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Stanford Prison Experiment, Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo
14 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Social Influence and Persuasion
Compliance Film
prank phone caller who pretends to be a police officer, calls the restaurant and convinces them
that one of the employees committed a crime of stealing money. they asked the manager to
take her to the back and strip her to find the stole items
-threats have less power if they are not directly with you, you would also need to back up your
threat with evidence
-role theory; expectations of how we should act and how other people should act with us
depending on our roles
Obedience to Authority
-power: the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others even against their will. the
idea to get the control of someones behaviour to change their beliefs and behaviours
-compliance: when the targets behaviour conforms to the sources request
-authority: the capacity of one member to issue orders to others by invoking rights that are
vested in their role
•peoples roles/positions within an organization give them certain rights/obligations
•these give one person authority over another with respect to certain acts and performances
-parents and police officers should be listened to
Milgram Experiment
-Stanley Milgram, Yale 1963
-recruited participants from range of backgrounds (age 20-50)
-assigned to either teacher or learner conditions
•all participants actually assigned teacher condition (no real learner)
-participants told they were participating in memory test
•told to shock learner after wrong answer
-actual research question: how many participants will comply and shock learner at the highest
voltage?
-9/12 went all the way to finish the experiment (450v)
BBC Replication of Experiment
-9 out of 12 participants went to the end (440v)
-scientist as legitimate authority
•science as a legitimate institution for the greater good
-diffusion of responsibility by participants
•deferral to expert authority reduced perceived personal responsibility
Factors that Influenced Rate of Obedience
-conditions varied by milligram in subsequent experiments
•different room, pounding on the wall (no shouting): 65%
•different room, shouting: 63%
•same room, 1.5 ft away: 40%
•forcing hand on learner: 30%
•experimenter calls in orders to teacher: 21%
•participants are all women: 65%
•backstreet office unconnected to Yale: 47%
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Threats have less power if they are not directly with you, you would also need to back up your threat with evidence. Role theory; expectations of how we should act and how other people should act with us depending on our roles. Power: the ability to in uence and control the behaviour of others even against their will. the idea to get the control of someones behaviour to change their beliefs and behaviours. Compliance: when the targets behaviour conforms to the sources request. Parents and police of cers should be listened to. Recruited participants from range of backgrounds (age 20-50) Assigned to either teacher or learner conditions: all participants actually assigned teacher condition (no real learner) Participants told they were participating in memory test: told to shock learner after wrong answer. 9/12 went all the way to nish the experiment (450v) 9 out of 12 participants went to the end (440v)
