Social Approach

1) Individual affect our behaviour - Your use of language may be effected by individuals.

Example:You may swear infront of your friends but not infront of your parents.

2) Groups affected our behaviour - You may engage in 'rowdy' behaviour with certain groups  of people.

Example: Join in a football chant.

3) Society & Culture affect our behaviour - The way you dress in certain countries.

Example: You may cover up more if you visite Middle Eastern countire such as Suadi compared to England or the USA.

Obedience - The act of following an order given by a person with recognised authority over you.

Legitimate Authority - Respect the person in authority, trust they are right.

Illegitimate Authority - Scared of what will happen if you do not obey.

Constructive Obedience - Benefits society, keeps systems running smoothly and safe.

Example: Obey traffic signs, dont play with matches, follow fire drills.

Malevolent Obedience - Badly intended.

Example: Iraq conflict - Abu Ghrib prison abuse, bullies.

Misguided Obedience - When the authority figure has the wrong information.

Example: teacher gives wrong information for an exam.

Aim: To measure how obedient naive participants would be when ordered to give increasing intense shocks to an innocent victims.

Procedure: A labotory experiment at Yale University, 40 male volunteers recuited through a newspaper advert, paid $4.50. The three key people: The Experimenter - Giving orders, The  Learner - Confederate, The Teacher - Naive Participant. Told it is about punishment and memory/ learning, rigged draw to determine roles, participants shown equiptment and given a sample electric shock.

Results: Many showed sign of stress, nervous laughter, sweating, and three had seizures. 100% of participants obeyd and continued to shock upto 300 volts, 14 out of 40 stopped between 300 volts to 375 volts. 26 (65%) continued all the way to 450 volts - obeyed till the very end.

Conclusion: Given the right situation, 'normal' people will obey an authority figure to the extent of harming another human being.