Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram

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Stanley Milgram’s 1963 studies into obedience have provided important and shocking insights into the power of authority. The study set out to discover how obedient people really are. Debate and controversy have surrounded the study since the results were first published. Predictions made by psychologists before the experiment proved dramatically inaccurate. The experiment led volunteers to believe they were administering increasingly painful and dangerous electric shocks to another volunteer for the purposes of a study on memory. The memory study was a ploy, the real focus was on the behaviour of participants inflicting pain on another person. Participants often acted against their own moral judgements and obeyed authority, even when begged by the “victim“ to stop. The study demonstrated the power of authority derived from the situation. This essay will examine his studies and some of his conclusions published in his book Obedience to Authority (1974) and compare them to findings in other works. It will discussing and evaluate the aims, experimental methods, findings, ethics and ecological validity of his work. The study set out to test “the Germans are different” hypothesis, this stated that the acts of genocide carried out by ordinary Germans during WWII was a result of a national character flaw; that the culture of Germany led its citizens to be more obedient and therefore more prone to brutality under the guise of “I was just following orders”. The experiment tried to create an environment where authority would come into conflict with morality. Original predictions estimated that of the participants only around 1% would fully obey, Milgram found levels around 65%. He then conducted 17 variations each changing small aspects ... ... middle of paper ... ...ode of Ethics and Conduct Gross. R 2008 Key studies in Psychology, Fifth Edition UK: Hodder Education Gross. R 2010 Psychology: The science of the mind and behaviour Sixth Edition UK: Hodder Education Jung. C.G 1958 (English Ed) The Undiscovered Self p5 UK: 2002 Routledge Milgram. S 1974. Obedience to Authority. UK: Tavistock Publications: 2010 Pinter & Martin Orne, M.T 1962 On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications. Accessed 14/02/2011 http://www.psych.upenn.edu/history/orne/orne1962amerpsychol776783.html Orne, M. T., & Holland, C. H. 1968 On the ecological validity of laboratory deceptions. Accessed 14/02/2011 http://www.psych.upenn.edu/history/orne/orneholland1968ijp282293.html Zimbardo. P 2007 The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil. UK: Rider

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