milgram’s research

• obedience is a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order
• the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority who has the power to punish when the obedient behaviour is not forthcoming
• stanley milgram (1963) sought an answer to the question of why such a high proportion of the german population obeyed hitler’s command
• milgram's research consisted of 40 american males who volunteered to take part in the start, supposedly to assess the impact of punishment on learning and upon arrival at yale they met the experimenter and another participant
• participants were randomly allocated and this was done by them drawing lots to see who would be assigned to each role within the study 
• rigged → the real participant was always the teacher and not receiving the shock 
• the participant was required to test the learner’s ability to recall pairs of words and each time the learner got an answer wrong the teacher was required to administer an electric shock (fake) of increasingly voltage
• it would initially start at 15 volts and would go up in intervals of 15 to a maximum 450 volts and at 300 volts the learner would bang on the wall and complain
• after the 315 volt shock was administered there were no further responses heard from the learner 
• the experiment continued until either the participant refused to continue, or the maximum level of 450 volts was reached 
• baseline findings of milgram's research:

  • 100% of participants delivered all the shocks up to 300V
  • 12.5% stopped at 300V
  • 65% continued to the highest level - 450 V
  • milgram also collected qualitative data and observed signs of extreme tension e.g. sweating, nail biting, trembling
• conclusion of milgram's research:

  • milgram concluded that german people are not different. the american participants in his study were willing to obey orders even if it meant causing harm