Milgram on Obedience

Background and Aims

Background

• Issue of obedience particularly high after ww2

• Explanations were sought for the inhumane obedience of Germans especially during the holocaust

Aims

• Investigate the process of obedience; to demonstrate the power if a legitimate authority even when a command requires destructive behaviour.

Method

Design

• Controlled observation in laboratory using self-report NOT an experiment there is no independant variable

Sample

• self-selected sample of 40 men from various occupational and educational backgrounds

• Confederates: biology teacher in lab coat as experimenter, learner (or victim) played by 47-year-old and trained for role.

Materials/ apparatus

• shock generator