The Milgram Experiment Stanley Milgram Social Psychologist Obedience

The Milgram Experiment

Stanley Milgram • • Social Psychologist Obedience to Authority Eichmann Trials Subjects were told experiment was about punishment and learning

Background • The Milgram experiment was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.

Background continued… • Subjects were told the experiment was about the effect of punishment on learning. They were instructed to give electrical shocks for wrong answers to the questions they asked… • In reality, the other people in the experiment were actors and the shocks were not real. • Milgram wanted to discover if ordinary people would do bad things if pressured by an authority figure.

Roles • E = Experimenter (This person was the authority figure, and an actor) • S = Subject or Teacher (40 males between the ages of 20 and 50) • A = Actor or Learner (This person was also an actor)

Findings or Conclusions • More than 60% of participants administered the 450 volt shock; none of the participants stopped before the 300 volt shock • People tend to obey authority, even if it goes against their personal beliefs • The Moral Aspect- Many participants suffered emotional distress and were visibly upset during and after the experiment

Questions • How could money influence the results? • What defense mechanisms do you think the subjects were using? • How would you have behaved? • What types of responses/ reactions did the “teachers” or subjects display?