Milgram's Situational Variables Affecting Obedience (AQA AS Psychology)

Revision Note

Claire Neeson

Written by: Claire Neeson

Reviewed by: Lucy Vinson

Milgram's variable: proximity

  • Proximity refers to how close to/far away someone or something is

  • Destructive obedience is more easily achieved if the person/people being harmed are out of sight (if they can't be seen then this reduces moral strain)

  • Milgram wanted to explore the idea that obedience decreases as proximity increases (and vice versa)

    • The closer the 'Teacher' is to the 'Learner', the less likely it is that obedience will follow

  • In Milgram's original (1963) study, the Teacher and the Learner were in separate rooms (the Teacher could hear, but not see, the Learner)

  • Milgram conducted a series of variations to his original procedure to investigate the effect of proximity:

    • When the Teacher and the Learner were in the same room obedience (measured as the number of participants who went to 450 volts) dropped from 65% to 40%

  • In another proximity variation, the Teacher had to force the Learner’s hand onto an electromagnetic shock plate

    • This variation resulted in obedience dropping to 30%

  • Another variation involved a lack of proximity between the participant and the experimenter

    • The experimenter left the room after setting up the experiment

    • The experimenter then proceeded to issue instructions by phone

    • Obedience dropped even further in this condition with 20.5% of the participants going to 450 volts

  • Milgram concluded that proximity is a key variable in destructive obedience

    • The more remote the victim, the easier it is to harm them

https://www.savemyexams.com/gcse/psychology/aqa/19/revision-notes/social-influence/obedience/milgrams-agency-theory/
The percentage of participants who went to 450 volts in the proximity variation

Milgram's variable: uniform

  • If an individual perceives someone to be an authority figure then they are much more likely to obey orders from them than from someone who appears to lack status or authority

  • Research by Bickman (1974) showed that people were more likely to obey a confederate dressed as a security guard than a milkman or a man in plain clothes (this condition resulted in the lowest levels of obedience), hence a uniform confers authority, even when it is not a police uniform

  • Obedience towards authority figures is something that is culturally transmitted

    • Obedience is taught both directly and indirectly

    • Obedience is taught via cultural and societal norms as part of someone’s childhood experiences

  • Most cultures operate a social hierarchy in which authority figures occupy the highest positions and expect to be obeyed

    • Authority figures are often identifiable by their uniforms

    • Uniform, therefore, is a key marker of a legitimate authority

  • Milgram wanted to explore the idea that obedience decreases as the authority of the experimenter decreases (uniform or no uniform)

  • In Milgram's original (1963) study, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat

    • He 'looked like' he was officially in charge of the study

    • The grey lab coat served as his uniform

  • Milgram conducted a variation to his original procedure to investigate the effect of uniform, as follows:

    • The experimenter (wearing the grey lab coat) pretended to have to leave the room

    • This original experimenter was replaced by a man in plain clothes

    • In this variation only 20 % of participants went up to 450 volts

  • Milgram concluded that a uniform - even when it is as sparse as a lab coat - confers authority on the wearer and thus results in higher levels of obedience

Milgram's variable: location

  • One of the binding factors that explains obedience in Milgram's original study is the location

    • Yale University is a highly prestigious college with a reputation for excellence

    • Having the procedure take place at Yale University conferred status and prestige on the proceedings

    • The idea that the participants were 'helping science' was bolstered by the choice of location

  • Milgram wanted to explore the idea that obedience decreases when the location of the study changes from high to low status

  • Milgram conducted a variation to his original procedure to investigate the effect of location, as follows:

    • Milgram ran the study in a run-down building in Bridgeport, Connecticut

    • Participants were told the experiment was being run by the Research Association of Bridgeport

      • there was no mention at all of Yale University

    • In this variation, the percentage of participants who went to 450 volts dropped to 47.5%

  • Milgram concluded that location affects obedience

    • The less credible, low-status location resulted in a lower level of obedience

Evaluation of Milgram's situational variables

Strengths

  • Research such as Bickman's (1974) outlined above lends support to the idea that situational variables such as uniform affect obedience

    • Bickman's study was a field experiment with naive participants

      • it has high ecological validity due to the participants' lack of awareness of their participation in the study

      • the study also used a degree of control with its three distinct conditions of the independent variable which means that it has some reliability

  • Milgram stuck to the same standardised procedure in all of the variations he conducted which means that the results are easy to compare to check for reliability

Limitations

  • Some of the variations may have been more difficult to fake:

    • The proximity condition in which the Teacher had to place the Learner's hand on the shock plate would mean that the Learner had to produce some very convincing acting - which is not an easy task to achieve

    • Any suspicion from the participants that they were being set up would impact the validity of the findings

  • Milgram's conclusion that situational variables explain destructive obedience could be abused for nefarious reasons

    • Acts of cruelty, tyranny or brutality could be excused as 'the situation made me do it' which is a worrying idea

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Claire Neeson

Author: Claire Neeson

Expertise: Psychology Content Creator

Claire has been teaching for 34 years, in the UK and overseas. She has taught GCSE, A-level and IB Psychology which has been a lot of fun and extremely exhausting! Claire is now a freelance Psychology teacher and content creator, producing textbooks, revision notes and (hopefully) exciting and interactive teaching materials for use in the classroom and for exam prep. Her passion (apart from Psychology of course) is roller skating and when she is not working (or watching 'Coronation Street') she can be found busting some impressive moves on her local roller rink.

Lucy Vinson

Author: Lucy Vinson

Expertise: Psychology Subject Lead

Lucy has been a part of Save My Exams since 2024 and is responsible for all things Psychology & Social Science in her role as Subject Lead. Prior to this, Lucy taught for 5 years, including Computing (KS3), Geography (KS3 & GCSE) and Psychology A Level as a Subject Lead for 4 years. She loves teaching research methods and psychopathology. Outside of the classroom, she has provided pastoral support for hundreds of boarding students over a four year period as a boarding house tutor.