Leftovers

13 important questions on Leftovers

What did Milgram's study on obedience to authority show?

Milgram was trying to see how far people were willing to inflict plain if it was their job. 2/3rd of the participants continued to give a shock, despite please and screams coming from the other side.

Milgram says it has to do with a deep sense of duty to authority

Dong the same experiment, but now that the experimenter said that they could stop as soon as the actor participant screamed: the participant immediately stopped giving shocks

What are the dangers of blind obedience?

A multi-layered and widely accepted system of authority  has an immense advantage upon a society. We are trained from birth that obedience to proper authority is right and disobedience is wrong (parental lessons, school songs, stories, religion etc):
1. They know more than us
2. They control reward and punishment

Why do people follow orders without afterthought?

They will not think to question it because they automatically start reacting to the orders
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

Why is the appearance of authority enough to use the influence of the authority principle?

Because symbols can trigger our compliance in the absence of authority

What are the three symbols that can create authority?

1. Titles: they convey expertise and inspire deference (experiment where someone pretended to be a doctor and called to the hospital to give a patient some lethal medicine, 95% complied)
2. Clothes: for example police clothes
3. Trapping: outward signs, features or objects associated with a particular situation, role or job

What are two questions you should ask to decide if authority should be followed?

1. Are they truly an expert?
2. How truthful can we expect the expert to be? Assess trustworthiness of the situation (= sly sincerity)

What are the two types of authority?

1. Being an expert in a certain field: we rely o the opinion or argument stated by this figure
2. A person who has authority: a person in a parking lot, wearing a vest has the authority to tell us where to park our car

What is said with 'shock the puppy' experiment?

As a reaction on Milgram, Sheridan & King wanted the participants to see the subject getting hurt. Therefore, a puppy was put on a mental plate, so that the participant would see the puppy when it got shocked. 75% gave the puppy a maximum shock that killed the dog.

--> Even when the participants saw that they were killing a dog, the power of authority had a bigger influence on them.

What does the taste preference on monkeys say?

When introducing caramels only to the peripherals, only 51% ate it. When introducing the caramel to the leaders of the group, the whole colony ate it

What are indications of an expert?

  • Titles: convey expertise an inspire deference
  • Height: people with more status perceived as higher
  • Clothes: police officer outfit
  • High vs low authority
  • High vs low status: we tend not to correct a people in a higher position or people of higher status

What is said with the 'drink no coffee' experiment

That doing something pro-social, and thereby violating certain rules, will give you power

When was the hotel management school rule of the curtains respected?

When you saw co-workers and lower staff respect the rule, not the management one (however, when the management disrespected te rule, this was highly influential on also not doing that)

What should you do when you introduce a rule in an organisation?


- start by showing that others in the organisation think that the rule is important
- showing a high compliance to the rule, specifically rule compliance by lower level personnel throughout the organisation

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo