Milgram (1963) Aim And Context

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Context 1

Back 1

Obedience is a type of social influence that causes a person to act in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority. There is the implication that the person
receiving the order is being made to do something that they would not have done without the order.

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Context 2

Back 2

The authoritarian personality was proposed by Adorno et al. (1950), to describe those individuals who are typically hostile to people of inferior status while being 'servile' to those who they perceive to be of a higher status than themselves.

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Context 3

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Adorno et al. believed that people with an authoritarian personality are more likely to become prejudiced against minority groups as a result of unconscious hostility arising from a disciplinarian upbringing, and that this is hostility is displaced on to minority groups, such as Jews.

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Context 4

Back 4

This idea was used to support the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis, as many psychologists claimed that the Germans had a high level people with authoritarian personalities.

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Context 5

Back 5

You could discuss any other atrocities that have recently occurred.

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Context 6

Back 6

You could describe other reasons why people might obey an order.

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Aim

Back 7

Milgram aimed to test if the 'Germans are different' hypothesis was really accurate. He wanted to assess whether obedience can be explained in terms of internal, dispositional factors. Milgram aimed to create a situation that allowed him to measure the process of obedience, even when the command requires destructive behaviour.