Milgram

Milgram experiment is a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. They measured the willingness of study participants, men from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education, to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. The experiments began in July 1961, in the basement of Linsly-Chittenden Hall at Yale University, three months after the start of the trial of German Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.

Procedure

The procedure of the experiment was that the participant was paired with another person and they drew lots to find out who would be the 'learner' and who would be the 'teacher'. The draw was fixed so that the participant was always the teacher, and the learner was one of Milgram's confederates (pretending to be a real participant). The learner (a confederate called Mr. Wallace) was taken into a room and had electrodes attached to his arms, and the teacher and researcher went into a room next door that contained an electric shock generator and a row of switches marked from 15 volts (Slight Shock) to 375 volts (Danger: Severe Shock) to 450 volts (XXX).

Results

The results of the Milgram experiment were that a high proportion of people would fully obey the instructions, irrespective of their personalities, suggesting that situational variables have a stronger sway than personality factors in determining obedience.

Criticism

The Milgram experiment has been criticized on ethical grounds, with critics arguing that it put participants in a highly stressful situation that they could not control.

Legacy

Despite the criticism, the Milgram experiment is widely recognized as a significant study in the field of social psychology. It has been replicated many times, with consistent results within societies, but different percentages across the globe.

See also

• Stanford prison experiment
• Asch conformity experiments
• Bystander effect
• Social psychology

Milgram Resources
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