Proximity: The physical distance between the Teacher and Learner significantly influenced obedience. When the Learner was in the same room as the Teacher, obedience dropped, as the physical reality of the victim's suffering became harder to ignore.
Location: The prestige of the setting played a role in establishing legitimacy. Moving the experiment from a high-status university to a run-down office building resulted in a decrease in the percentage of participants who administered the maximum shock.
Uniform: The appearance of the authority figure serves as a visual cue for status. When the Experimenter wore a lab coat, obedience was higher compared to variations where the authority figure wore everyday clothes, suggesting that symbols of expertise command more compliance.
| Feature | Obedience | Conformity |
|---|---|---|
| Source of Influence | A person of higher status (Authority) | A group of peers (Equals) |
| Nature of Influence | Direct orders or commands | Implicit social pressure or norms |
| Individual Behavior | Acting as an agent for another | Aligning with the majority to fit in |
| Awareness | Participants are usually aware they are obeying | Participants may be unaware they are conforming |
Deception: Participants were misled about the true nature of the study, believing they were participating in a memory experiment and that the shocks were real. This raises concerns about the validity of informed consent in psychological research.
Protection from Harm: Many participants experienced significant psychological distress, including trembling, sweating, and in some cases, seizures. While Milgram argued that the long-term effects were minimal after debriefing, the immediate stress was a major ethical critique.
Right to Withdraw: Although participants were technically free to leave, the verbal prods used by the Experimenter made it difficult for them to exercise this right, as the commands implied that they were required to stay.
Memorize the Statistics: Always remember the baseline result: of participants went to the full volts, and went to at least volts. These numbers are frequently tested to gauge your understanding of the study's impact.
Identify the 'Prods': Be prepared to explain how the verbal prods functioned as a mechanism of social influence. They were designed to remove the participant's sense of autonomy and reinforce the authority of the Experimenter.
Link to Agency Theory: When discussing why people obey, always use the term Agentic Shift. This describes the transition from taking personal responsibility to seeing oneself as an agent for an authority figure.
