MILGRAMS OBEDIENCE FILM AND ATTRIBUTIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY

114 psychology students at SUNY-Fredonia read scenarios based upon Mil gram's heart disturbance studies with the altered outcome that the lea rner suffered a heart attack and died. Scenarios involved an experimen ter and obedient teacher or an experimenter alone. Students read scena rios with and without exposure to the Obedience film. While students w ho had not seen the film held the experimenter significantly more resp onsible for the events than the obedient teacher, those who had seen t he film believed the two shared the responsibility more equally. Despi te the effects of the film upon attributions of responsibility, subjec ts persisted in responding more harshly to the experimenter than the o bedient teacher when recommending punishment, even after viewing the f ilm. Results are discussed in relation to Kelman and Hamilton's 1989 d istinction between 'role-based motives' and 'deed-based consequences.'