The Milgram Experiment

Aim

To research why the German population followed Hitler

Method

• Lab experiment

• Participants paid before start of experiment adding pressure

• A confederate named “Mr Wallace” acted as the learner while the real participant acted as the teacher while sat in a room with a researcher in a white lab coat

• Every time the learner provided a wrong answer, the teacher believed they had administered a large shock beginning at 15V and ending at 450V - a lethal shock

• Participants prodded by researcher to continue

Participants

• 40 males

• Paid to participate

• Volunteer sample

• Aged between 20-50

Results

• No participant stopped below 300V

• 12.5% of participants stopped at 300V

• 65% continued to 450V

Qualitative data also gathered and participants showed physical signs of stress such as sweating, trembling and nail biting

• 3 participants had stress-induced seizures

Conclusions drawn

People are prone to obeying those in authority e.g. the Nazi party in 1940s Germany.

GRAVE

• Low generalisability, inapplicable to day to day life and unrepresentative sample. Participants were paid to participate

• High reliability, lab experiment allows for replication

• Low applicability, not applicable to day to day life but does meet the aims of the study

• High internal validity

• Low external validity

• Ethical issues, participants deceived and harmed psychologically and physically

Hofling et al.

Conducted research into nurses’ levels of obedience to doctors demands.

• Doctors order nurses to administer drug they know is harmful

• 21 out 22 nurses administered the drug

Ome and Holland

Argued that participants did not truly believe the set up

Sheridan and King

Recreated Milgram’s study but administered real shocks to a puppy and found that 57% of males and 100% of females conformed

Le Jeu De La Mort

Replicated Milgram’s study and found that 80% of participants delivered fatal shock