Transcript Social Influence - University of Richmond

Outline

Obedience
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Milgram Experiment
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Responsibility and Obedience
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Diffusion of Responsibility
Extreme Obedience
Jonestown, Guyana, 1978
• Jim Jones, cult leader of The People’s
Temple, persuaded his followers to drink KoolAid laced with cyanide
• 913 died, including >200 children poisoned by
their parents
• Factors
• cult members felt alienated from
American society
• cult members were in an isolated
location
• Jones was very charismatic
• Jones promised life “in a better place”
Waco Texas, USA, 1993
• David Koresh, cult leader of the
Branch Davidians, maintained an
armed standoff with the
government for 51 days until he
and cult members died in a fire of
unknown origin
• over 80 adults and children died
Extreme Obedience
Nazi Holocaust
Germany & Poland
(Europe)
1941-1945
6,000,000
Rwanda
(Africa)
1994
800,000
An estimated 210 million people were killed by genocide in 20th century.
Are the people who commit such acts inherently evil?
Adolf Eichmann
 supervised the
deportation of
6,000,000 Jews to Nazi
gas chambers
 Were Germans
generally evil?
 Was Eichmann an evil
sadist or merely a cog
in the wheel?
The Milgram Experiments
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Obedience
 Willingness
to obey
the commands of a
legitimate authority
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Procedures:
 ‘Teacher’
& ‘Student’:
learn word pairs
 ‘Teacher’ required to
administer shock to
‘learner’ for errors
Milgram Video: Questions
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How did Milgram make the
situation seem realistic?
What was the task for the learner
and for the teacher?
How did the learner protest?
What sorts of things did the
experimenter say to encourage the
teacher to obey? What made the
experimenter seem like an
authority?
How far did subjects go before
stopping?
Did the real subjects enjoy
shocking the learner? Were they
sadists?
Did the subjects obey just because
Yale researchers had legitimate
authority?
… and a few things to think
about…
 Was the study ethical?
 Were the results worth it?
 Why did so many people
obey?
 What would you have
done in that situation?
Obedience Song
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Obedience Song (4.067 MB)
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….this is what happens when social
psychologists have too much time on their
hands…
Factors That Affect Obedience
1.
Remoteness of the
victim
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2.
teacher and learner in
separate rooms: 65%
obedience
teacher and learner in same
room: 40% obedience
teacher and learner in
physical contact (teacher
had to put learners hand on
apparatus): 30% obedience
Closeness and
legitimacy of authority
figure

“ordinary person”
confederate instead of
experimenter: 20%
obedience
3.
Personal characteristics

4.
no significant differences
based on sex (though women
reported feeling more guilty),
politics, religion, occupation,
education, military service, or
psychological characteristics
Cog in a Wheel
“another subject” confederate
does the dirty work and real
subject assists: 93%
obedience
 “another subject” confederate
disobeys: 10% obedience
 subjects told they are
responsible for learner’s
welfare: 0% obedience

Responsibility and Obedience

“I refuse to take the
responsibility of him
getting hurt in there.”
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“Who takes the
responsibility if
anything happens to
that gentleman in
there?”
Part 1
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At 3:00 a.m., a woman drives home
She starts walking towards her entrance. But, then, sees
a man standing at the edge of the parking lot
Instead, she heads towards street for police "call box"
The man grabs her
She screams "Oh, my God, he stabbed me! Please help
me! Please help me!”
IF PEOPLE SAW THIS: HOW MANY OF THEM WOULD
BE WILLING TO TRY TO HELP THE WOMAN?
(Helping includes picking up the phone to call the police)
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A. No one would be willing to try to help.
B. One or two people would be willing to try to help.
C. Half the people would be willing to try to help.
D. More than half the people would be willing to try to
help.
E. Most of the people would be willing to try to help.
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(choose only ONE)
Part 2
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Someone from an apartment building floor higher up yells
out "Let that girl alone!"
Hearing this, the killer starts walking away toward a white
car.
The neighbors turns out their lights
But, the killer returns and starts stabbing her again.
This time she screams "I'm dying! I'm dying!."
IF PEOPLE SAW THIS, HOW MANY OF THEM WOULD
BE WILLING TO TRY TO HELP THE WOMAN?
Part 3
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Neighbors again open their windows and turn
on their lights; a city bus drives by; the killer
runs to his car and starts to drive off . The
woman is now struggling to make it to her
apartment.
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IF PEOPLE SAW THIS, HOW MANY OF
THEM WOULD BE WILLING TO TRY TO
HELP THE WOMAN?
Part 4
Now, it's around 3:45 a.m.:
 The killer returns again, searches for the
woman, finds her, and seems to deliver the
final, fatal stab wound.
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IF PEOPLE SAW THIS, HOW MANY OF
THEM WOULD BE WILLING TO TRY TO
HELP THE WOMAN?
Kitty Genovese
Queens, New York.
 A total of 38 neighbors watched
 Stabbed to death over 35 min period
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The first phone call = 3:50 a.m. after
Kitty was already dead.
What is Wrong with These People?
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They are New Yorkers: callous and
uncaring individuals
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Fundamental attribution error
 Blaming
the others' personality while overlooking the situational factors
When Do People Help??
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“Bystander Effect”(Darley & Lantané )
 People
are less likely to intervene if there are
more people around
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As the number of bystanders increases,
the likelihood of any one bystander helping
decreases and the more time passes
before anyone helps
Diffusion of Responsibility
 The
decrease in an individual's sense of
responsibility to help in an emergency
when other bystanders are present.
Responsibility gets diffused out across all
people present
Diffusion of Responsibility
“I used to ask myself, ‘Why doesn’t somebody do something?!’ Then I
realized I am somebody.”-- Jane Wagner
Diffusion of Responsibility
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Seizure study (Latane & Darley, 1968)
Procedure:
 SS
put in individual booths and told they would
discuss personal problems via speaker system.
 During the discussion, a confederate suffers a
seizure over intercom.
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Manipulation (IV):
 SS led to believe they
 Alone
 In 3-person group
 In 6-person group
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were:
DVs: % who help and mean time to help
Darley and Latané (1968) - the "seizure" study
Percentage
of
Participants
Who
Attempted to
Help Victim
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
As the number
of bystanders
increased, the
percentage of
individuals who
helped
decreased
1
3
6
Darley and Latané (1968) - the "seizure" study
180
Numbers of
Seconds
Passing before
Participants
Attempted to Help
Victim
160
140
120
As the number of
bystanders increased,
the time elapsing
before help was given
increased
100
80
60
40
20
0
1
3
6
Diffusion of Responsibility
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The Smoke-Filled Room (Latane & Darley, 1970) SS
showed up for an experiment and were asked to fill out a
set of questionnaires. While filling out these
questionnaires, the room began to fill up with smoke.
SS were tested in three conditions:
1) Alone in room
2) w/ 2 confederates
3) w/ 2 other "real" subjects
DV: % subjects reporting smoke within 6 mins
Diffusion of Responsibility
80
70
Percentage
of SS
Reporting
Smoke
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Alone
2 confederates 3 naïve subjects
Diffusion of Responsibility
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Chair Study (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1977)
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Diffusion of responsibility among Whites
may be heightened when the victim is
Black
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Chairs fall on a fellow subject (B or W)
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DV: % who help
Results
100
90
80
70
Percentage
60
who help
50
40
30
20
10
0
No other witness
2 other witnesses
White Victim
Black Victim