Stanley Milgram

Definition

Stanley Milgram was a social psychologist who conducted a series of groundbreaking experiments in the 1960s that explored the human tendency to obey authority figures, even when their instructions conflicted with personal moral beliefs. His research on conformity, compliance, and obedience has had a lasting impact on our understanding of human behavior and social psychology.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Milgram's experiments involved participants being instructed by an authority figure (the experimenter) to administer what they believed were increasingly severe electric shocks to a confederate (the learner).
2. Despite the participants' initial reluctance, the majority continued to obey the experimenter's instructions, even when the learner appeared to be in distress or potentially in danger.
3. Milgram's findings challenged the prevailing belief that people would always act in accordance with their moral principles and values when faced with unethical demands.
4. The experiments revealed the powerful influence of authority and social pressure on individual behavior, even when it contradicts personal moral standards.
5. Milgram's work has been widely studied and discussed in the fields of social psychology, ethics, and human behavior, and has led to a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to obedience and conformity.

Review Questions

• Explain how Milgram's experiments demonstrated the concept of obedience and its influence on human behavior.
  • Milgram's experiments showed that a significant majority of participants were willing to administer what they believed were severe electric shocks to a confederate, simply because they were instructed to do so by an authority figure (the experimenter). This highlighted the powerful influence of obedience, where individuals often comply with the demands of an authority, even when those demands conflict with their personal moral beliefs. The experiments challenged the prevailing notion that people would always act in accordance with their moral principles and values, and revealed the complex interplay between individual agency and social pressure.
• Analyze how Milgram's findings on obedience relate to the concepts of conformity and compliance.
  • Milgram's experiments on obedience are closely linked to the psychological concepts of conformity and compliance. Conformity refers to the tendency of individuals to align their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with the norms of a group or social context. In Milgram's experiments, the participants' willingness to obey the experimenter's instructions, even when they conflicted with their personal moral standards, can be seen as a form of conformity to the perceived authority of the situation. Compliance, on the other hand, is the act of yielding to a request or demand, often due to social pressure or the perceived consequences of non-compliance. Milgram's findings suggest that the participants complied with the experimenter's demands, despite their own moral reservations, due to the powerful influence of social pressure and the perceived consequences of disobedience.
• Evaluate the ethical considerations and implications of Milgram's experiments, and discuss how they have influenced the field of social psychology.
  • Milgram's experiments on obedience have been the subject of significant ethical scrutiny and debate. The experiments involved deceiving participants and exposing them to situations that caused significant psychological distress, raising concerns about the well-being and informed consent of the research subjects. However, Milgram's findings have also had a profound impact on our understanding of human behavior and the complex factors that influence it. The experiments have challenged our assumptions about morality and individual agency, and have led to a deeper appreciation of the powerful role that social pressure and authority can play in shaping human actions. Milgram's work has been widely studied and discussed in the fields of social psychology, ethics, and human behavior, and has contributed to the development of ethical guidelines for psychological research. Despite the ethical controversies, Milgram's experiments have had a lasting impact on our understanding of the human condition and the factors that shape our behavior in social contexts.

Related terms

Obedience: The act of complying with the instructions or commands of an authority figure, even if those instructions conflict with one's personal beliefs or values.

Conformity: The tendency of an individual to align their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with the norms of a group or social context.

Compliance: The act of yielding to a request or demand, often due to social pressure or the perceived consequences of non-compliance.