Conformity and Obedience - 1770 Words

Conformity and Obedience Assignment In this assignment I intend to evaluate Stanley Milgrams studies of obedience and in particular the ethical issues broken. I hope to determine whether the knowledge gained justifies his experiments. After the destruction and atrocities committed in World War II many historians argued that there must be some sort of character defect that made the German people more obedient. Mailgram’s study was an attempt to test ‘the Germans are different’ hypothesis. The hypothesis states that Germans are more likely a person or people in authority regardless of what the act is. (Social psychology handbook pg.8) Milgram conducted an experiment into the nature of obedience in 1963 at the prestigious Yale†¦show more content†¦In the second ‘voice feedback’ condition 62.5 per cent went to the lethal 450 volts. He also found even though the participants hesitated and objected they still continued with the experiment. Although many were observed to tremble, stutter, dig their nails into their palms and even laugh, one participant had a seizure. (Gross, 2010, pg.416/417). Milgram evaluated his own experiment and devised nine factors that could explain the reason why such high levels of conformity were visible. To test the factors he devised further versions of his experiment. I believe that this strengthens the experiment the amount of control that Milgram was able to give and the different variations helped to strengthen Milgrams conclusion as to why we obey people in authority. (Gross, 2010, pg. 417). A weakness of the experiment is the sample used is not representable to the rest of the American population and can’t be generalised. Only males who read the advert and were prepared to take part in a laboratory experiment were used Milgrams have been accused of deliberately using an ethnocentric sample. (Class notes) I also believe that the experiment was not ecologically valid as laboratory is not considered a normal situation and this could contributed to the experiment having demand characteristics as the participant might have thought that they were in an controlled safe environment and were also encouraged to do so by the experimenter. Another big weaknessShow MoreRelatedHistory Of Obedience And Conformity1729 Words   |  7 PagesHistory of Obedience and Conformity With the utterance of â€Å"research in obedience,† Stanley Milgram is the epithet in social psychology. 56 years ago, Milgram tested the limits of a person s ability to commit deeds that would normally be directionally challenging to their moral compass when commanded to act by an authority figure. Just 15 years after the World War II Holocaust, the Milgram experiments was a social psychology response to a topic of â€Å"particular relevance† during that time (MilgramRead MoreConformity and Obedience Essay3326 Words   |  14 PagesConformity and Obedience Task: outline and evaluate findings from conformity and obedience research and consider explanations for conformity (and non-conformity), as well as evaluating Milgram’s studies of obedience (including ethical issues). The following essay will be about understanding what is meant by and distinguishing the differences between the terms conformity and obedience. It will show the evaluation of two key psychological studies which seek to explain why people do and do not conformRead MoreObedience and Conformity Essay508 Words   |  3 PagesObedience and Conformity Both obedience and conformity involve social pressure in obedience the pressure comes from behaving as you are instructed to do; whereas in conformity the pressure comes from group norms Behaviour in obedience is determined by social power, whereas in conformity it is influenced mostly by the need for acceptance. In nearly all societies, certain peopleRead MoreConformity and Obedience Essays2559 Words   |  11 PagesConformity and Obedience Why do we conform? Two basic sources of influence: normative social influence, the need to be liked, accepted by others and Informational influence: need to be correct and to behave in accordance with reality. Solomon Asch (1956) devised an experiment to see if subjects would conform even if they were uncertain that the group norm was incorrect. In his study he asked subjects to take part in an experiment. They were each asked to match a standard length line with threeRead MoreThe Phenomena of Conformity, Obedience, and Deviance2505 Words   |  10 Pagesï » ¿Effects of Social Influence on Ones Self This essay defines the phenomenon of Conformity, Obedience and Deviance in the light of historic research and contemporary experiments. Concluding to the fact that deviance is a valuable Human attribute that makes our life what it is today. Introduction: Man is a social animal and among his other social needs, is to be socially recognized and acclaimed by his fellow society members. This desire is so overwhelming that one might go to any extent toRead MoreEssay about On Conformity and Obedience1176 Words   |  5 PagesConformity and Obedience People have been changing their behavior or obeying someone else’s commands for years. This continues today in our everyday lives. Conformity and obedience seem similar but differ in several ways. Conformity is defined by psychologists as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. Similar to this, is obedience. Obedience is defined acting in accordance with a direct order or command. Normally people conform to reap a reward or to avoid punishment. If we complyRead MoreConformity And Obedience Are Both Social Behaviors1935 Words   |  8 PagesConformity and obedience are both social behaviors that are influenced by those around us and determines our behavior in social situations. When we change our attitude or behavior based on those around us, we are conforming to their behavior. When we obey what we are told, by what we perceive to be an authority figure, we are being obedient. Conformity and obedience can have positive or negative results on our lives, dependin g on the situation and the individuals involved. Symbolic interactions areRead MoreAdaptive Social Behaviors, Conformity, Compliance And Obedience1369 Words   |  6 PagesAdaptive Social Behaviours Conformity, compliance and obedience are a set of adaptive social behaviours that one makes use of to get by in daily social activities. They are all some form of social influence, which causes a change in a particular person or group’s behaviour, attitude and/or feelings (Cialdini, 2000, 2006). Various forms of social influence have been used for a variety of reasons; sometimes to help individuals stray from harmful behaviour such as smoking; other times [not as altruisticRead MoreMajor Categories Of Social Influence : Conformity, Compliance, And Obedience2039 Words   |  9 PagesKatrina Venta PSY 226 Community College of Aurora March 11, 2016 Abstract There are three major categories of social influence: conformity, compliance, and obedience. Conformity is the change of behavior to be able to fit in and gain approval from other people. Compliance, on the other hand, is when a person changes their behavior in response to being asked directly. While obedience is a response to an authority figure directing an individual (Kenrick, Neuberg, Cialdini, 2010, p. 183). These social influencesRead MoreAsch s Conformity Experiment And Milgram s Obedience Experiment Essay1586 Words   |  7 Pagesexperiments; Asch s conformity experiment and Milgram s obedience experiment. The two experiments will be compared for validity and their ethics. In addition, this report will take into consideration Zimbardo s Stanford Prison experiment and the Lucifer Effect. To analyse how obedience and conformity theories can be used as an example of why good people can turn bad. This report will also look at how obedience and conformity can be applied to the c riminal justice system. Conformity Solomon Asch s