Week 1 - Milgrams Study of Obedience Flashcards
What was the background to why Milgram decided to conduct his studies of obedience?
He was of jewish background and was astounded by the atrocities of world war 1. His fascination was based around authoritarianism and the authoritarianism personality, and what encourages its emergence and continuation.
What was the design of Milgram’s obedience experiments?
Milgram’s obedience experiments involved participants administering electric shocks to a learner, who was actually a confederate of the experimenter. The participant, acting as the teacher, was instructed by an authoritative experimenter to continue administering shocks, despite the learner’s protests. The design aimed to explore obedience to authority figures.
What was the basic finding in the default setup/main condition?
Majority of participants were willing to shock the learner by command of the teacher, despite hearing screams of pain and even going as far as lethal shock levels.
What were some of the interesting experimental variations that Milgram ran, and what can be concluded from their results?
Variations include the proximity of the teacher to the learner, the inclusion of peers to incorporate a level of peer pressure, or covariation bias of consensus, and
What explanations did Milgram offer for his findings and what is your evaluation of them?
Milgram argued that the reason for the obedience of the participants was due to the authoritarian structure of the environment which allowed for the diffusion of responsibility of the participant.
Are there any real-world events that Milgram’s findings could be related to?
Historical accounts of mass genocide such as the Nazi regime, and current accounts such as the Afghan war. the war on drugs and the Russia vs Ukraine conflict.
What were the main criticisms of Milgram’s work?
The ethical implication of exposing the participants the illusion they had given a lethal dose of electricity to another human, potential long lasting psychological harm, immediate shock related trauma. The evidence that the participants followed instruction based on situational factors was insufficient. Individual differences might account for a proportion of the effect.
How do Milgram’s findings speak to the issue of personality versus situational explanations of human behaviour?
Milgram’s study offers insight into the power of situational factors influencing behaviour, demonstrating the authoritarian personality that seems to be inherent to most of us and can circumnavigate both individual, cultural and societal values.
