3.
Compliance techniques are used to gently
lead people toward agreement with a request
. In some cases , however , requests aim to
produce obedience , a change in behavior in
response to the commands of others .
Although obedience is considerably less
common tan conformity and compliance , it
does occur in several specific kinds of
relationships .
4.
We may show obedience to our bosses ,
teachers and parents merely because of he
power they hold o reward or punish us .
To acquire an understanding of obedience
consider for a moment how you might
respond if a stranger said to you :
5.
I’ve devise a new way of improving memory . All I need is
or you to each people a list of words a then give them a test
. The test procedure requires only that you give learners a
shock each time they make a mistake on the test . To
administer shocks , you will use a “shock generator “that
gives shocks ranging from 15 to 450 volts . You can see that
switches are labeled from “slight shock “ through danger :
severe shock at the top level , where there are three red Xs .
But don’t worry , although the shocks may be painful , they
will cause no permanent damage
6.
Presented with this situation , you
would be likely to think the neither you
nor anyone else would go along with
the stranger’s unusual request . Clearly
it lies outside the bounds of what we
consider good sense
7.
Or does it ? Suppose a stranger asking
for your help was a psychologist
conducting a experiment , or suppose
that the request came from your teacher
, your employer or military commander
- all people in authority with a
seemingly legitimate reason for the
request
8.
If you still believe its unlikely that you will comply –
think again . The situation presented above describes
a classic experiment conducted by social
psychologist STANLEY milgram in 1960’s.
In the study the experimenter told the participants to
give increasingly stronger shocks to another person
as a part of study on learning
In reality , the experiment has nothing to do with the
learning , the real issue under consideration was the
degree to which participants would comply with the
experimenter’s request
9.
In fact the “learner” supposedly receiving the shocks
was a confederate who never really received any
punishment
Most people who hear the description of milgram’s
experiment feel it is unlikely that any participant
would give the maximum level of shock –or for the
matter , any shock at all . Even a group of
psychiatrists to whom the situation was described
predicted that fever than 2% participants would fully
comply and administer the stronger shocks
10.
However the actual results contradicted both experts and
non experts predictions .
Some 65% participants eventually used the highest
settings on the shock generator -450 volts – to shock
the learner . This obedience occur even though the
learner who is mentioned in the start of this
experiment that he had a heart condition , demanded
to be released , screaming :
“let me out of here , let me out of here , my heart’s
bothering me , let me out of here , despite the learner’s
pleas , most participants continued to administer the
shock”
11.
Obeyed primarily because they believed that the
experimenter would be responsible for any potential
ill effects that befall the learner . The participants
accepted the experimenter’s orders ,then because
they thought that they personally could not be held
accountable for their actions – they could always
blame the experimenter
12.
Although most participants in the milgram’s
experiment said later they felt the knowledge gained
from the study overweighed the discomfort they
may have felt, the experiment has been criticized for
creating an extremely trying set of circumstances for
the participants and thereby raised serious ethical
concerns . Undoubtedly , the same experiment could
not be conducted today because of ethical
considerations
13.
Other critics have suggested that milgram’s methods
were ineffective in creating a situation that
Actually mirrored real world obedience . For
example how often are people placed in a situation
in which some one orders them to continue hurting a
victim , while the victim’s protest are ignored
14.
Despite these researches milgram’s research remains
the strongest laboratory demonstration of obedience
. And partial replications of milgram’s work ,
conducted in an ethical defensive way , find similar
results , which adds credence to the original world
Further more , we need only consider actual instances
of obedience to authority to witness some frightening
real life parallels
