Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by others. A major area is social influence in interaction, including obedience and conformity. Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments in 1963 found that 65% of participants administered what they believed were painful electric shocks to a learner when ordered by an experimenter, showing that ordinary people may obey authority even if it violates their conscience. The experiments demonstrated people's willingness to follow orders and the power of authorities to alter habitual thinking and command obedience.

1. Social Psychology: October 2009
“but I was just following orders…”
social influence in interaction

2. overview
• what is social psychology?
• why investigate obedience?
• “I was just following orders…”
• how far would you go?
• testing obediece: The Milgram Scenario
• results
• conclusion
• recap
Social Psychology: October 2009

3. what is social psychology?
“B=f(P,E)”
(K. Lewin, 1951)
Social Psychology: October 2009
The scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings and
behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied
presence of others.

4. what is social psychology?
• Social psychology is the scientific study of
how people's thoughts feelings and
behaviours are influenced by the actual,
imagined, or implied presence of others
Q.what are 3 social influences that you can
identify?
Social Psychology: October 2009

5. social influence in interaction
• a major area of Social Psychology is social
influence in interaction
• social influence in interaction investigates and
explores the range and effects of social pressures
on our attitudes, beliefs and behaviour
• obedience and conformity are important areas of
research and investigation
Social Psychology: October 2009

6. “but I was just following orders…”
• ‘A Report on The Banality of Evil’
• “in certain circumstances, the most ordinary
decent person can become a criminal”
Hannah Arendt, 1963
• contemporary examples
• how far would you go?
Social Psychology: October 2009

7. Q. are ordinary people willing to obey authority
in violation of their own conscience?
A. The Milgram Scenario (1963,1965 & 1974)
Social Psychology: October 2009
testing obedience

8. testing obedience
Social Psychology: October 2009

9. testing obedience
Social Psychology: October 2009
The experimenter (E) orders
the teacher (T), the subject of
the experiment, to give what
the latter believes are painful
electric shocks to a learner
(L), who is actually an actor
and confidant. The subject
believes that for each wrong
answer, the learner was
receiving actual electric
shocks, though in reality
there were no such
punishments.

10. testing obedience: results
• In Milgram's first set of experiments, 65% (26 of 40) of
experiment participants administered the experiment's
final massive 450-volt shock, though many were very
uncomfortable doing so;
• at some point, every participant paused and questioned
the experiment, some said they would refund the money
they were paid for participating in the experiment.
• Only one participant steadfastly refused to administer
shocks below the 300-volt level.
Social Psychology: October 2009

11. testing obedience: conclusion
“Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and
without any particular hostility on their part, can
become agents in a terrible destructive process…
Social Psychology: October 2009

12. testing obedience: conclusion
Moreover, even when the destructive effects of
their work become patently clear, and they are
asked to carry out actions incompatible with
fundamental standards of morality, relatively few
people have the resources needed to resist
authority.”
Stanley Milgram, “The Perils of Obedience”, 1974
Social Psychology: October 2009

13. Social Psycholgy: obedience
Social Psychology: October 2009
“The power of authorities is demonstrated not only in the
extent to which they can command obedience from
followers, but also in the extent to which they can define
reality and alter habitual ways of thinking and acting.”
Phillip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect (2007)

14. social influence in interaction
Social Psychology: October 2009
THANKYOU
“but I was just following orders…”