Milgram and obediance

a type of social influence which causes a person to act in response to an order given by another person. The person who gives the order usually has power or authority.

what is obedience?

Milgram aimed to investigate why people obey authority figures and to test the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis.

what was Milgram’s aim?

1. The sample consisted of 40 American men.

2. In the experiment, the participant was introduced to a confederate and an experimenter in a white coat. The participant was always given the role of teacher, and the confederate was always a learner.

3. The confederate and participant were taken into two separate rooms, and the participant believed the confederate was wired up to an electric shock machine.

4. The confederate had to learn a list of words, and every time he made a mistake, the participant was asked to administer an electric shock, which increased each time (15 volts - 450 volts).

Milgram’s electric shock experiment - method

1. Sample?

2. What occurred in the first stages of the experiment, and what were the roles of the participant and confederate?

3. Where did the participant and confederate go?

4. What was involved in the actual procedure?

1. In the experiment, when the shock was below 300v, the confederate shouted out in pain. At 300v, the confederate pounded on the wall, and at 315v, the confederate pounded on the wall and was not heard from again.

2. Milgram found that 65% of the participants gave an electric shock to the most severe setting (450v) compared to his original prediction that only 3% would continue to 400v. All of the participants continued to 300v, and 12.5% of participants (5 participants) stopped at 300v.

Milgram’s electric shock experiment - results

1. What were the levels of pain the confederate showed?

2. What did Milgram find?

Milgram concluded that most people will obey an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being.

what did Milgram conclude?