Question

Give a summary about the Milgram experiment and what it does?

Answer 1

Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University conducted an experiment on how far people obey even when they are hurt. He chose 40 males and they were split into student group and teacher group. The student group was expected to learn few words and tell it when asked. If they gave wrong answer, the teacher would administer a shock. The shock varied in voltage from 15 volts to 450 volts. When the teachers resisted to administer the shock after realizing that they were hurting someone, the teachers were asked to continue by the researcher.

The research conclusions suggested that ordinary people are more willing to follow order if they believe that their authority figures are right. Obedience to authority is inherent in most of the people because people were taught to obey authority figures by parents, schools etc. Milgram thus suggested his agent theory in which he proposed that people who give orders are considered as the responsible people for whatever behavior expected or exhibited while the person ordered believes that the authority will take responsibility for the outcomes of their actions.