BRIEF FILL-OUT SURVEY ANSWERS
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BRIEF FILL-OUT SURVEY ANSWERS |
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At the end of the Obedience documentary,
Stanley Milgram morosely suggests that human nature may not be enough to
save us from our worst impulses. Certainly data from studies used to create
the conformity quiz do little to contradict his assertions. Why might this
be so? An ancient saying states that all that is necessary for evil to
triumph is for good people to do nothing.
Which brings us to the next question: WHY might good people do nothing?
We might be afraid of repercussions or retaliation.
We might not understand the situation or be confused about it.
We might not think that the situation needs our intervention.
We
might believe we don't have the neccesary expertise to help with an intervention.
Our
desire to be accepted is stronger than our desire to intervene.
And???
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1. Imagine that an inexperienced person
in a psychological experiment was asked to publicly match the line
on the left to one of three lines on the right (Line A). Prior to this
person announcing their decision, five people immediately before them
all pick the wrong line (say line "B"). About what percent of inexperienced
psychological subjects do you feel would just "go along" with the group
and also announce the wrong decision?
_____PERCENT (or [ ] Almost no one would
do this)
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This
classic study by Solomon Asch was first conducted in the late 1940s. Approximately
40% of the answers given conformed to the wrong answer given by the confederate
"group majority." Steve McDonald, a doctorate from Florida State University's
Sociology Department, (now on the North Carolina State University faculty)
replicated this study using Tallahassee students and residents--his findings
were almost identical to those of Asch's studies using Pennsylvania students
over 50 years earlier.
2. About what percent of college men
do you feel would say that they would rape a woman if they "could get away
with it"?
_____PERCENT
(or [ ] Almost no college men would say this)
This
survey of male undergraduates at several colleges in the early 1980s, found
that 50 percent said they would rape a woman if they felt they would
not be caught. The findings are important because they illustrate what
"normal people" might do (this was a hypothetical situation) if repercussions
and personal responsibility are removed from their actions, comparable
to the Milgram study of naive psychological subjects shocking "learners"
in a supposed experiment about the effects of punishment on learning.
Philip Zimbardo's research has found that psychological subjects who are "deindividuated" by wearing hoods over their heads are much more likely to shock others, and to shock them more severely.
Visit Philip
Zimbardo's Web site to learn more about this deindividuation study,
as well as the Haney, Banks and Zimbardo "prison study," and more about
"deindividuation" and its effects.
3. About what percent of people do you feel would shock their partner in a laboratory experiment up to 450 volts of electricity simply because an experimenter asked them to?
_____PERCENT (or [ ] Almost no one would
do this)
The
late Stanley Milgram's studies of obedience to authority were conducted
during the early to mid-1960s. In the situation depicted in this documentary,
Obedience,
about 65 percent of naive subjects shocked bogus laboratory subjects with
450 volts of electricity because the experimenter insisted that "the experiment
must continue" when the experiment took place at Yale (it was 50% in the
rundown Bridgeport office). In this, the most famous condition which you
viewed on the Obedience tape, the confederate complains of a heart
condition and demands the experiment must be stopped. One half to two-thirds
of the naive participants continued anyway.
Human subjects regulations make it unlikely that the "Milgram experiment" could be replicated in the United States today. However, research in some other countries, such as Australia, indicate that conformity to legitimate authority remains high.
Dr. Milgram introduced conditions, such as meeting the victim, or listening to his moans--and screams--of pain, because when participants neither saw nor heard the victim, nearly 100 percent shocked the laboratory "learner" at the maximum level of 450 volts.
In further research, Dr. Milgram conducted experiments about how many people on a New York subway would give up their seats, just because a stranger asked them to. (Most would but his graduate students felt terrible asking.)
Other studies by other researchers had a blue uniformed (no insignia) versus ununiformed men asking random walkers in a parking lot to put a quarter in a stranger's meter. Compliance increased sharply when the man wore a uniform.
The Milgram documentary is available in either tape or DVD. Check with your local school district, community college or college/university to see if they have a copy.
4. Suppose an individual held an opinion that made the people around her or him feel uncomfortable. About what percent of adult Americans do you feel would say "it's important to stand up for your opinions" (instead of saying "keep your opinions to yourself if they make other people uncomfortable")?
______PERCENT
[ ]
Almost no one would say to stand up for your own opinions
[ ]
Almost everyone would say to stand up for your own opinions
In
a national, representative survey of Americans conducted by the National
Opinion Research Corporation (the General Social Survey of 1993), 55 percent
said that it was important to stand up for your opinions but over one-third
(38 percent) answered that it was better to keep your views to yourself
if they made others uncomfortable.
In a different General Social Survey question, asked in 1985, 1990, and 1996, about 40 percent each year said that people should obey the law without exception, while about 52 percent answered that exceptional circumstances might mean that people would have to follow their consciences, even if that meant breaking a law. When the question was repeated in 2006, now 53% said that people should obey the law without question.
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Although adolescence and early adulthood are often thought of as times of rebellion and disobedience, we also know that on the average, young adults rate their parents as their "most admired people." This is also a time of life when peer groups and peer group acceptance and approval are critically important to the individual.
Recent biological research suggests that structures in the brain used for judgement and impulse delays do not fully mature until one's early 20s, after many students have completed their educations. These findings present new challenges for educators (as well as, of course, for parents and other concerned adults).
What kinds of conformity behavior do you notice among your students? How prevalent are these behaviors?
What kinds of these conformity behaviors could be harmful to others?
Has any kind of bullying (verbal, emotional,
or physical) been an issue in your school?
If so, what was done about this bullying?
What do students think should be
done?
How can students open up and disclose
that bullying has occurred?
Here's a web site with a lot of resources
about bullying that your students may find helpful:
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/topics/bullying.asp
Suppose your students saw a behavior that was not only illegal, but harmful to themselves or others, such as drug use or assault. What do you think would be the most likely responses of the students observing such behavior?
Florida State University's Holocaust
Institute
ONLINE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO YOU! CLICK
HERE
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Susan Carol Losh
Department of Educational Psychology
and Learning Systems
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4453
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