Milgram 1963 - Obedience

• Obedience is following orders given by an authority figure, even when those orders are distasteful or unfair
• Context:

  • ww2 'the Germans are different' hypothesis, germans have a basic character defect, namely a readiness to obey without question, regardless of the acts demanded by the authority figure
  • before the study Milgram asked psychology students what percentage of people they think would give shocks to the top voltage
  • their guesses were between 0-3%
• Aim:

  • to investigate the level of obedience would be shown when participants were ordered by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person
• Method:

  • controlled observation
• Participants

  • 40 males
  • from New Haven, Connecticut
  • obtained from newspaper adverts and mailshot
  • aged 20-50 years
  • variety of occupations and educational achievement
• Can't generalise findings because they were all men