Comparing Milgram's Experiments On Obedience And The Authority

Yierfan Abula
ENG 111 M&W
Professor Hoke
11/21/2014

Obedience and the Authority
If a person in a position of authority ordered you to deliver a 400-volt electrical shock to another person, would you follow orders? Most people, I think, would answer this question with an absolute No. However, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of the obedience experiments during the 1960s demonstrated surprising results. These experiments offer a powerful and disturbing look into the power of authority and obedience.
Milgram started his experiments in 1961, shortly after the trial of the World War II criminal Adolph Eichmann had begun. Eichmann’s defense that he was simply following instructions when he ordered the deaths
Burger did a partial replication of the Milgram experiment, in 2009. To avoid ethical problems, he replicated the instructions only up to the point at which participants first heard the learner's verbal protests (150 volts). He also screened out those who had taken more than two psychology courses or who expressed familiarity with the Milgram study. The participants were paid $50 and were told they could withdraw at any time. Of the Milgram participants who went beyond the 150 volt point, 79% went clear to the end (450 volts) so Burger concluded that his results could be roughly compared to Milgram's. The rate of obedience was only slightly lower than 45 years ago. Burger found that 30% stopped at or before 150 volts while 70% were willing to go on, as compared with the Milgram results in which 17.5% stopped at 150 volts and 82.5% went beyond this point. Like Milgram, Burger found no significant differences between men and women. However, the real surprise for Burger was what he called the "Modeled Resistance" scenario. This was comparable to the condition in which two alleged peers of the teacher quit at an early point. In the original Milgram experiment, only 10% went to 450 volts; in Burger's replication, modeled resistance made little difference: 45% of the men(5) and 31% (6) of the women stopped at 150 volts, but 54.5% (6) of the men and 68.4%(13) were willing to go on. This is one of the most
Most people do what they are told by authority. Most people who imagine that they are exceptions are not likely to be. Meanwhile, we also notice that the authority should not be the only reason for people’s obedience. Burger believes his study demonstrates not only the power of authority which leads to blind obedience, but also that certain situations normalize immoral behavior. Milgram also discovered that as auditory, visual, and physical contact with the learner increased, the maximum shock participants delivered decreased, especially when the teacher was required to physically touch the learner to administer the shocks. Obedience also dropped dramatically when the experimenter left the room, and issued his orders by phone: only 22 percent of subjects obeyed to the end when the experimenter was absent. Thus, we can sum up a conclusion that the power of authority to claim people's allegiance and obedience remains strong.However, we cannot deny that authority is not the only reason which affects people’s obedience. There ought to be many reasons, such as visual and physical contact as Milgram found; moral sense, as Burger mentioned; age, education, social class, as Foster argued. The replication experiments and similar studies are never been stopped since Milgram’s in 1961, and they would continue until they found out the