MILGRAM (1963)

AIM:
To see how far people would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person

METHOD:
Forty 20-50 year old male volunteers (who were paid $450) drew straws for roles, however the true participant always drew the role of ‘teacher’ and a confederate played the ‘learner’. The learner was attached to electrodes in a separate room to the ‘teacher’ who controlled the shocks. For every mistake that was made on the ‘memory task’ the ’teacher’ gave an increasing shock to the ‘learner’ (+15 volts each time). The confederate gave wrong answers on purpose to see how far the ‘teacher’ would go. The participants were told “This is a test on memory, you can leave when you wish”, however they were given verbal prompts to continue:

• “Please continue”

• “The experiment requires that you continue”

• “It is essential that you continue”

• “You have no other choice but to continue”

RESULTS:
100% of participants continued up to at least 300 volts. 65% continued up to 450 volts, which was the last shock

CONCLUSION:
Stark authority was pitted against the participants’ strongest moral imperatives against hurting others and with the participants’ ears ringing with the “screams of the victims” authority won more often than not. High levels of total obedience are due to the situation that people were placed in. Not much individual variation between participants, so personality cannot explain obedience as much as situational factors