What is a situational

explanation of Obedience to

authority?

A) Authority figure takes

responsibility

B) Authoritarian personality

C) Social identity

Milgram suggested that when we

are obeying the wishes of authority

we feel less responsible for our

actions.

What state are participants in?A) Autonomous state

B) Agentic state

C) Personal responsibility

When does it become harder to

disobey according to graduated

commitment?

A) When the authority figure starts with large unreasonable requests

B) When the authority figure starts with small requests and increases these requests quickly

C) When the authority figure starts with small requests and gradually increases them

A legitimate authority is more likely to...

A) be at the top of the social hierarchy

B) Be trusted

C) Have power to punish

D) All of the above

When the experimenter left the

room participants felt more

responsible for their actions. What

state are participants in?

A) Autonomous state

B) Agentic state

C) Personal responsibility

An authoritarian personality is

characterised by….

A) Lack of respect for authority

B) Hostility to people perceived to be of

higher status

C) Respect for people perceived to be of

higher status

In Milgram‟s study those who

gave the highest shock level

tended to…..

A) Have stronger authoritarian

characteristics

B) Blame the learners rather than

themselves for the obedience

C) Both the above

Who carried out research to

support authoritarian

personality?A) Adorno

B) Milgram

C) Hofling

Lesson objectives

Understand what is meant by the term

independent behaviour and counter-

conformity

Apply your knowledge from conformity

and obedience studies to outline when

we resist pressures to obey/conform

Think

What evidence have we

got to suggest that

individuals resist pressure

to conform or obey?

Hint:

Milgram, Hofling, Asch

Anti-conformity (Counter-

conformity)

Person acts in opposition to rules or

group norms

Behaviour can still be seen as group

dependent, as the individuals actions

are determined by those in the group

although they do the opposite

Independent behaviour

When an individual does not respond to

group norms.

Although they can see how others are

behaving, they do not pay attention to

this and are not influenced by it

The role of situational factors in

disobedience and non-

conformity

COMPLETE SHEET:

What factors led

people to resist

conforming/obeying in

social influence

studies?

Situational factors in

disobedience and non-

conformity Giving answers in private

Size of the group

Increasing responsibility

Legitimate authority figure

Social support

Proximity

Difficulty of task

Task

Read page 217

Summarise Gamson et al‟s (1982) study

Aims

Procedures

Findings

Conclusions

Criticisms

Gamson et al (1982)

Aimed to identify factors that led to rebellion

and disobedience

This was a field experiment

using deception as the

scenario was not real.

How did they do it?

Paid volunteers were placed in groups of 9 to discuss „standards of behaviour in the community‟.

During discussion they were told how they should behave and what to say regarding the „sacking‟ of a petrol station manager for a lifestyle that was offensive.

The „petrol station manager‟ however was

claiming the sacking was because he had

spoken out against the high oil prices.

Participants were also asked to sign a

consent form allowing film of the discussion

to be shown in a court case.

Findings:

Out of 33 groups:

32 rebelled in some way during the

discussion

25 the majority refused to sign the

consent form

9 groups threatened legal action

against the „Human Relations

Company‟

Why did people disobey in

Gamson‟s study? (Smith and

Mackie, 2000) People will rebel against unjust authority

Reactance: Rebellion is more likely if people‟s individual freedom to act or think how they want is controlled

When forced to act in a certain way we do the opposite!

Example from Gamson study?...

Why did people disobey in

Gamson‟s study? (Smith and

Mackie, 2000)

Group dynamics: if more thanone person shares the same view it will create a group identity

In Gamson‟s study, to HR coordinator “ we dont want to go on record, we don‟t want to pretend we agree, all 3 of us feel the same way!”

Why did people disobey in

Gamson‟s study? (Smith and

Mackie, 2000

Systematic processing: Being given time

to think allows people to consider their

actions and may increase likelihood of

rebellion.

Individual differences in

independent behaviour

Understand the influence of personality

on independent behaviour

Explain the influence of Locus of control

in independent behaviour

Personality characteristics

Conformers Non-conformers

Lower self esteem

Less intelligent

Higher need for

social approval

More self confident

Leadership

abilities

Crutchfield (1955)

Personality characterstics

Oliner and Oliner (1988)

Interviewed 2 groups of non-Jewish people

who had lived through the Holocaust

406: protected and rescued Jews

126: who had not done this

Findings: „Rescuers‟ scored higher on

measures of personal responsibility and

had scores demonstrating an internal locus

of control

You pass your

driving test

How do you

explain this

behaviour?

Locus of control

Rotter (1966)

Refers to the sense of control people

have over the successes, failures and

events in their lives

We can measure an individuals sense of

personal control on a scale

My behaviour

is caused

by my own

decisions

and efforts

My

behaviour

is caused

by others;

luck or fate

Personal

responsibility No Personal

responsibility

Locus of control

High internals....

Active seekers of information that is useful

to them, so less likely to rely on the

opinions of others

More achievement orientated

More likely to become a leader- assume

they can cause certain changes in their

environment, including those around them

Better able to resist pressure from others

Passing your driving test

Internal- worked really hard, had lots of

driving lessons and practiced a lot with

my parents

External- Had a really nice driving

instructor, was a fluke!

What type of

locus of control

do you use when

explaining your

behaviour?

Scoring

Score one point for each of the following:

2.a, 3.b, 4.b, 5.b, 6.a, 7.a, 9.a, 10.b, 11.b, 12.b, 13.b, 15.b, 16.a, 17.a, 18.a, 20.a,

If you didn‟t get these answers for these questions, you shouldn‟t give yourself a point. If an answer for the question isn‟t listed, don‟t give yourself a point.

A high score (9 or more) = External Locus of Control

A low score (8 or less) = Internal Locus of Control

Activity

Complete the sheet .....

“Application of locus of control to

real life situations”

Evidence

Using page 219-220 complete table

Study Method Findings

Williams and

Warchal

(1981)

Atgis (1998)

Write in your own words the conclusions

we can draw from these studies about

independent behaviour

Evaluation

Twenge et al (2004)

Meta-analysis found that young

Americans increasingly believe that their

lives are controlled by outside forces

Scores had become a lot more external

in student and child sample between

1960-2002

Why? Increase in divorce, violent

crime, mental health problems in society

Evaluation

Linz and Semykinan (2005)

Found gender differences in locus of

control

Men= internal locus of control, need for

challenge

Women= external locus of control, need

for affiliation (being part of a group)

Activity

A group of protesters is fixing a banner

to the top of a tall crane. A plain-clothes

policeman on the ground uses a

loudhailer to order them to stop and

come down but the protestors refuse.

Use your knowledge of psychology to

explain why the protestors defy the

order. Use examples from studies to

illustrate your answer.