Milgram Study Review
Behavioral Study of Obedience by Milgram (1963)
Background:
Some type of authority is necessary when humans live together and obedience is currently a very relevant concept. Throughout World War II, millions of people were killed through gas chambers and death camps. Although there was a mastermind behind the plan, there needed to be a huge amount of people to carry out the deeds. Some think that this is an ingrained behavior that can override ethical values, sympathy, and morality. Obedience should not always be thought of in relation to violence against others as there are several productive functions to it. This is seen by its role in society as being necessary.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to assess the level of destructive obedience in a laboratory setting.
Procedure:
Subjects were given roles in which they were to be the teacher in an experiment. An actor was used to play the student and subjects were told that each wrong answer would require them to give the student an electric shock. The 30 levels were marked from 15 volts to 450 volts which were labeled from Slight Shock to Danger: Severe Shock. Some internal resistance is made as they near 450 volts, and will often refuse to continue with the experiment. This occurred when there was a negative or fearful response from the student, acting as though in pain. If asked whether or not they should stop, the instructor will explain that it is “necessary to the experiment that they continue.” The questions that the student was asked were in reference to a list of word pairs originally given that the student later had to match up. The subjects included 40 males from ages 20 to 50. They were obtained from an advertisement in the newspaper and were part of a large range of occupations.
Results:
Psychologists were to predict the results before the experiment took place. They thought that less than 3% would continue to the end of the experiment. However, 66% of the participants continued to the end,
Background:
Some type of authority is necessary when humans live together and obedience is currently a very relevant concept. Throughout World War II, millions of people were killed through gas chambers and death camps. Although there was a mastermind behind the plan, there needed to be a huge amount of people to carry out the deeds. Some think that this is an ingrained behavior that can override ethical values, sympathy, and morality. Obedience should not always be thought of in relation to violence against others as there are several productive functions to it. This is seen by its role in society as being necessary.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to assess the level of destructive obedience in a laboratory setting.
Procedure:
Subjects were given roles in which they were to be the teacher in an experiment. An actor was used to play the student and subjects were told that each wrong answer would require them to give the student an electric shock. The 30 levels were marked from 15 volts to 450 volts which were labeled from Slight Shock to Danger: Severe Shock. Some internal resistance is made as they near 450 volts, and will often refuse to continue with the experiment. This occurred when there was a negative or fearful response from the student, acting as though in pain. If asked whether or not they should stop, the instructor will explain that it is “necessary to the experiment that they continue.” The questions that the student was asked were in reference to a list of word pairs originally given that the student later had to match up. The subjects included 40 males from ages 20 to 50. They were obtained from an advertisement in the newspaper and were part of a large range of occupations.
Results:
Psychologists were to predict the results before the experiment took place. They thought that less than 3% would continue to the end of the experiment. However, 66% of the participants continued to the end,