Stanley Milgram

Stanley Milgram
Born	August 15, 1933 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	December 20, 1984 (aged 51) New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Queens College, Harvard University
Known for	Milgram experiment, Small-world experiment
Scientific career
Fields	Social psychology
Institutions	Yale University, Harvard University, City University of New York
Doctoral advisor	Gordon Allport

Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist, best known for his controversial Milgram experiment on obedience conducted in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale University. He is also known for the small-world experiment, which led to the concept of "six degrees of separation."

Early life and education

Milgram was born in New York City to a family of Jewish immigrants. He attended James Monroe High School and later enrolled at Queens College, where he earned a B.A. in Political Science in 1954. He then pursued graduate studies at Harvard University, where he studied under Gordon Allport and received his Ph.D. in Social psychology in 1960.

Career

After completing his doctorate, Milgram took a position as an assistant professor at Yale University, where he conducted his famous Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures. The experiment revealed the extent to which individuals would follow orders from an authority figure, even when such orders involved harming another person.

In 1963, Milgram joined the faculty at Harvard University, where he continued his research on social networks and conducted the small-world experiment. This experiment demonstrated that any two individuals in the United States could be connected through a short chain of acquaintances, leading to the popularization of the phrase "six degrees of separation."

Milgram later moved to the City University of New York, where he continued his research and teaching until his death in 1984.

Milgram experiment

The Milgram experiment was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Milgram to measure the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. The results showed that a high proportion of participants were willing to obey instructions to administer what they believed were painful and potentially harmful electric shocks to another person.

Small-world experiment

The small-world experiment was designed to investigate the average path length for social networks of people in the United States. The experiment involved sending a package through a chain of acquaintances to a target individual, demonstrating that people are connected by a surprisingly short number of steps, which Milgram termed the "small-world phenomenon."

Legacy

Milgram's work has had a profound impact on the field of social psychology, influencing research on obedience, conformity, and social networks. His experiments have been widely discussed and critiqued, raising important ethical questions about the treatment of participants in psychological research.

Personal life

Milgram was married to Sasha Milgram, and they had two children. He passed away from a heart attack on December 20, 1984, in New York City.

See also

• List of psychologists
• Social influence
• Authority (sociology)
• Ethics in research