Obedience to Authority |Milgram Experiment| by Stanley Milgram 1961

An experiment conducted in order to determine the degree of obedience to authority through the administration of electric shocks by the participant.

Experiment Method and Design

Aim/Hypothesis

Results

Sample

Procedure

A diverse sample of men in the age range of 20 to 50 from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education

Is it possible that German Nazis really were following orders? Are people that susceptible to authority?

Obedience demonstrated by Nazis is a distinct German character that will not be represented by Americans

Sample of 40 men

How

Where

When

Variables

Participants would be "randomly" selected to become the teacher, being told to shock the other "participant" should they fail to answer the question correctly.

In the basement of Linsly-Chittenden Hall at Yale University

July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of German Nazi War Criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem

Independent

Time of day

Authority Figure

Number of authority figures

Number of participants

Number of learners

Difficulty of questions

Race of authority/learner

Type of learner

Dependent

Willingness to shock learner

Obedience to authority

65% of the sample administered the final shock

100% administered a shock of at least 300 volts.

Individuals exhibited signs of nervousness and being uncomfortable, such as sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting their lips, groaning, digging their fingernails, nervous laughter or smiling.

Rise in questions about the research ethics of scientific experimentation due to the extreme emotional stress

Rise of the theory of conformism and agentic state theory: leaving decision to the group and its hierarchy/carrying out another's wishes and absolving themselves of responsibility

The subject and an actor arrived together. The experimenter told them they'll be participating in a scientific study of memory and learning in order to determine the effect of punishment on a subject's ability to memorize content

Monetary compensation was guaranteed and was not subject to change.

The subject was purposefully given the role of the teacher, while appearing to have obtained it randomly.

The learner was strapped into an electric chair, separated so that they could communicate but not see each other.

The teacher was given a sample electric shock and the experimenter was dressed in a lab coat for more authority

The teacher was given a list of word pairs. They would read the list, then read the first word of each pair and four possible answers. The learner pressed a button to indicate his response. Should it be incorrect, the teacher would administer a shock to the learner (increasing by 15 volts)

Failure to answer was marked as an incorrect answer and was punished with an electric shock.

Should the teacher fail to administer the shock, the experimenter would give verbal prods: Please continue or Please go on. The experiment requires that you continue. It is absolutely essential that you continue. You have no other choice; you must go on.