milgram 1963 study of obedience

aim of the milgram study

to see whether ordinary people would obey instructions to harm another person

How authority and social pressure influence obedience

If people would continue to obey even when they felt uncomfortable or believed the action was wrong

Milgram study procedure

1.milgram got 40 men from people who responded to his new haven newspaper ad

2.the participants thought they were in a study of memory when it was actually a study of obedience

3.the men were aged 20 to 50

4. each of them were paid 4.50 for participation

milgram methodology

took place at yale uni

participants were introduced to Mr wallace(confederate)

draw was always rigged so that the confederate would be the learner

milgram study (prods used)

"Please continue."

"The experiment requires that you continue."

"It is absolutely essential that you continue."

"You have no other choice, you must go on."

milgram pre study hypothesis

Milgram predicted that only about 1-3% of participants would go all the way to the maximum shock level

actual findings of the milgram study

65% of participants went to maximum shock level(450 volts)

some participants showed

nervous laughter and sweating

sweating

stuttering

biting thier lip

digging toenails into flesh

uncontrollable seizures

ethical issues concerning milgram

Deception

Participants were deceived about the true aim of the study

They believed they were giving real electric shocks, when they were not

Lack of informed consent

Because of the deception, participants could not fully consent to what the study actually involved

Right to withdraw

Although participants technically had the right to withdraw, the prods ("You have no other choice...") made it feel like they could not stop

Protection from harm

The study did not fully protect participants from emotional harm during the procedure

ways to deal with those ethical issues

1. informed consent(get restrospective consent)

2. right to withdraw ( make this right very clear from the beginning and do not use prods that state othwewise

3. protection from harm( make sure the harm does not exceed whatever they face in their daily lives)

4. deception( as an ethics commitee to check that levle of deception is neccessary and acceptable