Given the role of informational and normative social influence processes in contributing to participants' willingness to shock a confederate learner , which of the following situations would yield the LEAST obedience?
A) The experimenter administers shocks to himself to demonstrate that the shocks are not lethal.
B) The experimenter tells participants that the learner will later be allowed to administer shocks to them.
C) The experimenter tells participants that the best teacher will be awarded a prize at the conclusion of the experiment.
D) Before leaving the room, two experimenters disagree on instructions before finally telling participants to take their time and choose their own shock levels.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In situation D, the presence of disagreement between experimenters undermines the authority figure's credibility and consistency, leading to reduced informational and normative social influence. This ambiguity likely results in participants feeling less compelled to obey, thus yielding the least obedience.

Given the Role of Informational and Normative Social Influence Processes