Variables of Obedience

The studies by Milgram, Zimbardo, and Asch have identified key variables that make people become more or less obedient and conform or not conform to a set of rules. Milgram’s experiment focusing on using painful shocks noted that the subjects of the experiment seemed to be more obedient when they experienced more pain from the shocks administered. Therefore, Milgram noted that the presence of external pressure, such as a punishment, was a major variable in increasing obedience (Milgram, 1963). From Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment (Zimbardo et al., 1971) and Asch’s conformity experiment (Asch, 1956), a decrease or an increase in obedience is linked to existing social norms and social conventions such as group opinions, defectors, social influencers, unanimous group agreements, and group cohesion, the presence of authority. Other factors noted to increase or decrease obedience include internal factors such as personal commitment to behavior and the moods and emotions of a person (Kumar Das, 2020). Conclusively, all experiments and studies show that the key variables that increase or decrease obedience are all external. Therefore, obedience is much more influenced by factors that are external to an individual that, to an extent, are not related to or under the control of the individual themselves.

If I were to study the same variable in influencing obedience, I would align my research with the American Psychological Association’s (APA) ethical guidelines. This means ensuring voluntary and uncoerced participation in the research, unlike Milgram, who had payments for compensating the subjects, informed consent for participation, and ensuring the confidentiality of the subjects (Chenneville & Schwartz-Mette, 2020). This means avoiding deception, as in Milgram’s experiment, and ensuring the protection of subjects, unlike how Zimbardo failed to do.

These variables impact social welfare or restrict social change as people will, at some level, be influenced to conform or change their behaviors to match those of others within the larger social settings or do what they think they are expected to do.

References

Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70(9), 1–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/H0093718

Chenneville, T., & Schwartz-Mette, R. (2020). Ethical considerations for psychologists in the time of COVID-19. American Psychologist, 75(5), 644–654. https://doi.org/10.1037/AMP0000661

Kumar Das, K. (2020). Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale? Social Sciences, 9(1).

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral Study of Obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378. https://sci-hub.se/10.1037/h0040525

Zimbardo, P. G., Haney, C., Banks, W. C., & Jaffe, D. (1971). The Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo, Incorporated.

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After completing the readings and video of the studies by Milgram, Zimbardo, and Asch, answer the following questions: What are the key variables that increase or decrease obedience?

If you were a researcher interested in exploring these variables, what ethical considerations would you need to address? How do these variables impact social welfare or lead to restricting social change?

Variables of Obedience

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