SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Hinesville, Georgia, Stanford Prison Experiment, Prank Call
Document Summary
2003: strip search at mcdonald"s restaurant in hinesville, georgia. Prank caller convinced manager to strip search a 19-year old employee suspected of drug possession. Power: the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others even against their will. Compliance: when the target"s behaviour conforms to the source"s requests. Recruited participants from range of backgrounds (age 20-50) Assigned to either teacher" or learner" conditions: all participants actually assigned teacher condition (no real learner) Participants told they were participating in a memory test: told to shock learner after wrong answer. 9 out of 12 (75%) participants went to the end (440v: in original milgram study, 63% went all the way. Scientists as legitimate authority: science as a legitimate institution for the greater good. Diffusion of responsibility by participants: deferral to expert authority reduced perceived personal responsibility. Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.