The Social Approach

Key Assumptions
The approach is about aspects of human behaviour that involve the individual's
relationships to other people, groups and society, including cultural influences on
behaviour.
As a social species we are always influenced by and in turn influence those
around us. This happens at all levels. Individuals have an influence over us
through social power and obedience. Groups influence through conformity plus
we behave differently when we are in a group as opposed to being alone.

Obedience

Milgrams Study of Obedience

Aim
The aim of Milgrams study was to test the level of obedience when a nave
participant was instructed to administer an act of physical harm that conflicted
with their personal consciousness

Procedure

Milgram advertised in the paper for volunteers

There is a rigged draw so that the stooge is always the learner and the
participant is always the teacher.
Stooge announces he has heart problems and they are split into two
separate rooms
Teacher given a sample electric shock (Validity ^)
Given word pairs to read out to the learner and if he gets one wrong he
receives electric shock.
Starts at 15v, increases by 15v each time all the way to 450v.
When the teacher hesitates he is given verbal prompts by the
experimenter.
Stooge bangs on the wall then goes silent.

Results

65% of the participants went all of the way to 450v (26/40)

100% went to 300v

Conclusion
Social influence is strong and people obey orders even if it causes them distress.
It was not originally thought that people would obey.

Strengths

Strength of Milgram's study is as it was a lab experiment the procedure

was standardised therefore easily replicable which means it can be tested
for reliability.
Strength is that it has experimental validity as the participants showed
stress and tension during the study; this is because they felt what was
happening was real.

Weaknesses

The study has low ecological validity due to the setting and it was a lab
experiment which is artificial which is likely to produce artificial behaviour
and therefore artificial results.
Ethical issues with the study are that; participants were continually
deceived, they didnt know the true aims of the study, they were put
under extreme amounts of stress etc.

Obedience

Meeus & Raaijmaker

Aim
The aim was to test obedience where harm would be done but in a more up to date way,
violence typical of our times. It was carried out in the Netherlands and Dutch culture is
more liberal. The type of harm was in a psychological nature rather than a physical one.

Procedure

Based on Milgrams study where the nave participant was ordered to inflict harm
onto another individual.
The participant was ordered to harass an apparent job applicant that was sitting a
test to determine whether or not they would get the job.
Their job was to make him nervous and deliver verbal abuse to put him under
pressure.
The participant was told it was in the context of a research project.
Confederate is the applicant.
There were 2 variations on the original study, one was peer rebel and the other
was experimenter absent the peer rebel study was where two other apparent
participants (confederates) aborted the study as they felt it was too much,
however this was done intentionally just to see how the actual participant would
respond. The experimenter absent variation was where the researcher didnt
stand in on the experiment and this was to remove the influence he had and see
how the obedience measured.

Results
92% of the participants obeyed and caused harm towards the applicant, even though
they thought it was unfair and went against their better judgement. In the 2 variations
obedience significantly dropped.

Conclusion
Even in a more liberal culture people still obey a figure of authority and go against their
personal consciousness to do something designed to harm another person.

Strengths

Strength of this study is that as it is a lab experiment it has a standardised

procedure which means it can be easily replicated and therefore tested for
reliability.
Strength of this study is that it has higher population validity than Milgrams
therefore the results from the sample can be more generalizable to the real world.

Strength of this study is that it was a similar study Milgram's and they both
showed high levels obedience this means the study can be said to be reliable.

Weaknesses

Weaknesses of this study are that as it is a lab experiment it lacks ecological

validity, this means due to the fact it was set in a lab this is deemed as an
artificial environment and therefore is said to produce artificial behaviour and
therefore artificial results.

Obedience
Milgrams Agency Theory
Autonomous State
The autonomous state is where you act under your own free will and are fully
aware of your behaviour and the consequence of your actions. For example you
do something because you feel it is right and you want to do it not because
someone has told you to. The participants in Milgram's study that didnt obey are
said to be in an autonomous state.

Agentic State
The agentic state is where we act under someone elses orders, as if we are an
agent of a superior doing as they say. We rid ourselves of the consequences
when we fall into the agentic state. For example in Milgram's study the
participants who complied are said to be in an agentic state.

Strengths

Helps to explain My Lai Massacre and the Holocaust etc

The agency theory helps explain the different levels of obedience in
Milgram's variations.

Weaknesses

More of a description of how society works rather than an explanation.

Other possible explanations for obedience such as social power.

Prejudice & Discrimination

Social Identity Theory
3 Stages
Social Categorisation
The act of placing ourselves into a group (in group out group)

Social Identification
Where the in-group absorb the culture, start behaving how that group should,
start dressing like them and sharing the same attitudes etc.

Social Comparison
Where you believe that you in-group is better than the other out-groups, boost
self-esteem as you believe your group is best.

Strengths

Strength of this theory is that there is clear evidence of this in society.

People regularly place themselves in a group, whether it is a sports team
or a belief etc.
It is supported by the robbers cave study and Tajfels social categorisation
and intergroup behaviour study.

Weaknesses

The robbers cave has low population validity so results cant be

generalised.
By only focusing on 2 groups no other factors are taken into account.

Studies in Detail
Hofling et al Nurse Physician
Relationship
Aim
The aim of Hoflings study was to test the nurse physician relationship to see if they
would administer a banned drug to a patient when instructed to by a superior.

Procedure

There were 3 hospitals involved.

There was 2 field studies and 1 control group.
The 2 field studies were given orders over the phone to overdose by an unfamiliar
voice, the drug wasnt allowed on ward.
In the control group there were 12 graduates and 21 students, were given a
questionnaire and the results were that 10 grads and all students said they would
not administer the drug if they were in that situation.
The experiment ended if; the nurse complied, they refused repeatedly, they
became upset or the call went on for longer than 10 minutes. If any of the above
criteria was met the debrief was cued.

Results
The results were that 21/22 nurses complied/obeyed. It was said that the calls were brief
and no real hesitation was made. After debrief they said they were aware of the dosage
policy however they still went ahead. (blind obedience)

Conclusion
Nurses will knowingly break hospital rules in a situation where a doctor tells them to,
even if it could endanger a patients life.

Strengths

Strength of the study is that it has high ecological validity as it was a field study
and was set in the nurses natural environment so they were behaving naturally
therefore their behaviour wasnt forced meaning that the results produced are
likely to be accurate to what they would really act like, this wouldnt happen if it
was set in a lab environment.
Strength of the study is that it also has high experimental validity as the nurses
didnt know they were being tested, which again means their behaviour was
natural and genuine which makes the results more valid.

Weaknesses

Ethics can be questioned as there was no informed consent was given however
this was necessary as the study wouldnt have worked if they knew what was
going on.
In the debriefing the nurses felt they were undermined, guilty and embarrassed.
However in the debrief they were reassured that what they did was completely
normal and werent punished or criticised for doing so.

Studies in Detail
Sherif et al Robbers Cave Study
Aim
The aim of the study was to see if it was possible to instil prejudice between two
very similar groups by putting them into competition with each other.

Procedure

22 boys at a summer camp.

Split into 2 groups on arrival. The researchers acted as camp councillors.
Each group were initially unaware of the others existence.
They were given rules on how to behave and were told to choose a team
name and a flag.
After 1 week the groups were made aware of each other.
This is when the in-group/out-group behaviour began.
Then competition was introduced, which was a tournament where the
points were manipulated. The winner was said to receive a prize.
Even before the competition started fights started and 1 group burnt the
others flag.
Prizes when awarded where stolen by the loosing group.

Results
Strong in-group favouritism was shown by the boys in each group.

Conclusion
Competition increased prejudice and discrimination, leading to clear in-group
conflict.

Strengths

As it was a field study the boys were in a natural environment = natural

behaviour = natural results.
High experimental validity as the boys were unaware that they were being
observed, therefore again natural behaviour = valid results.

Weaknesses

Low population validity as the boys were not representative of the whole
population therefore results cant be generalised.
Ethical issues, deceived, fully informed consent, parents werent allowed
to visit.

Key Issue
Obedience in Conflict My Lai
Massacre
Describing the Issue
US Army forces murdered over 350 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly
women and children. Tortured and mutilated.
This caused outrage around the world. The soldiers said that they were just
obeying orders.

Application
Agency theory states we are agents of our superiors, no responsibility.
Soldiers arent trained to be autonomous.

Research Methodology
Surveys: Interviews/Questionnaires
Survey is an umbrella term for a number of different research designs. Including
questionnaires and interviews, they usually gather self report data.
There are 3 types of interviews, structured, unstructured and semi-structured.
Structured set of questions, y/n = quantitative
Unstructured free flowing, open questions = quantitative
Semi-structured halfy half

Open/Closed Questions
Questionnaires can use different styles of questioning; this can include open and
closed questions.
Open Is a type of question that allows the participants to answer providing
qualitative data usually found in unstructured interviews. This means that the
participants can reply with a quality response stating their opinions and views in
detail on the subject.
Closed Is a type of question that allows the participants to answer providing
brief one word answers like yes or no, or a like heart scale, choosing a number
from 1-5, therefore, providing quantitative data.

Qualitative/Quantitative data
Qualitative rich detailed data that includes opinions and explanations. (Quality)
Quantitative Shorter statistical answers like yes/no. easier to analyse (Quantity)