The Milgram Experiment

🧠 Psych - 208/300

Hi Reader,

How are you doing today? Been a while since we caught up!

So today, we’re going to to discuss about The Stanley Milgram Experiment, also known as The Stanford prison experiment.

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The Experiment

The Milgram experiment is a psychological study that was conducted in the 1960s by Stanley Milgram.

The experiment aimed to measure the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.

The experimenter, who was a researcher in a lab coat, instructed participants (who were randomly assigned the role of "teacher") to administer electric shocks to a "learner" (who was actually an actor) when the learner gave an incorrect answer to a question.

The shocks were not real, but the participants believed they were, and the intensity of the shocks increased with each incorrect answer.

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What do I need to know?

The results of the experiment showed that a high percentage of participants (65%) were willing to obey the researcher's instructions and administer the highest level of shock, despite the screams and pleas of the "learner."

The Milgram experiment is considered a classic study in social psychology and is often cited as an example of the power of authority and obedience.

However, the experiment has been criticized for its ethical implications, and many researchers have argued that the results may not be generalizable to real-world situations.

Notes

• The experiment demonstrated that people have a strong tendency to obey authority figures, even when it conflicts with their personal conscience.

• The experiment showed that the participants' behavior was not solely determined by the characteristics of the authority figure, but also by the social context and the perceived consequences of disobedience.

• The experiment revealed that the majority of people are capable of committing acts of aggression and cruelty if they believe it is for a greater good or as instructed by an authority.

• The experiment has raised questions about the role of authority, obedience, and morality in society, and has had a significant impact on the study of social psychology and our understanding of human behavior.

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References & Studies: -

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

2. https://www.britannica.com/event/Stanford-Prison-Experiment