The Milgram Experiment: The Stanford Prison Experiment

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Recommended: One new criticism of the Stanford prison experiment

Corporate Sociology Experiments

Valentin Eder

Milgram experiment

Historical Background
One of the most famous studies in psychology was carried out by Stanley Milgram (1963), a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. Milgram started his experiments in 1961, shortly after the trial of the World War II criminal Adolph Eichmann had begun. Eichmann’s defense that he was merely following instructions when he ordered the deaths of millions of Jews roused Milgram’s interest. Milgram posed the question, "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"

The Experiment
Participants were told they were involved in a learning experiment, …show more content…

Philip Zimbardo in 1971.
Zimbardo wanted the answer the question if whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to the sadistic personalities of the guards or had more to do with the prison environment.

The Experiment
The experiment was contucted in the basement of the Stanford University psychology institut.
Zimbardo's team began with an ad in the classifieds.
“Male college students needed for psychological study of prison life. $15 per day for 1-2 weeks.
After they selected 24 applicants they divided them randomly in a group of prisoners and guards.
The day before the experiment, the researchers held and orientating session where they instructed the guards not to physically harm the prisoners but said them to create atmosphere in which the prisoners feel

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