Situational variables affecting obedience

Milgram's research provided a platform for further research into the situational variables affecting obedience. Milgram conducted several variations of his original experiment to explore how factors, such as proximity, location, and uniform, affected the rate of obedience.

PROXIMITY

Proximity is a situational variable that refers to how physically close or distant two people are. Milgram's obedience research involved various levels of proximity, including the distance between the teacher and the learner and the distance between the teacher and the experimenter.

To examine the effect of proximity on obedience, Milgram conducted a variation where the teacher and learner were situated in the same room. In this variation, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts decreased from 65% to 40%. This suggests that obedience levels were lower when the teacher was in closer physical proximity to the learner, as the teacher was more likely to perceive the learner's pain. Milgram also observed that when the experimenter was absent from the room and gave instructions over the phone, obedience levels dropped even further to 20.5%. This suggests that obedience levels are reduced when the proximity between the teacher and the authority figure is increased.

LOCATION

Milgram's original research was conducted in a laboratory at Yale University. Milgram also conducted a variation of the study in a rundown building in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to test the power of location. In this variation, the percentage of participants who administered the full 450 volts decreased from 65% to 47.5%, demonstrating the importance of location in shaping an environment conducive to obedience.

UNIFORM

Milgram investigated the impact of uniform on obedience by having the experimenter wear a white lab coat in most of his variations, which symbolised his authority as a university professor or scientist. However, in one variation, the experimenter was replaced by an ordinary-looking confederate in regular clothes. In this variation, the percentage of participants who delivered the maximum 450 volts decreased significantly from 65% to 20%. This illustrates the influence that uniform has on obedience levels.