Good morning ladies and gentlemen! Today , we are going to take a look
at one of the most controversial experiments in history. Milgram’s Experiment
on Obedience to Authority which proves that at least the common white American
could behave cruelly and sadistically under strict orders of a ‘’leader’’ (
fully responsible of the result of the sadistic act ).Someone who obeys the
order doesn’t feel guilty and this explains the behaviour of the lower police
officers fighting against protsestors etc with extremely violent insticts.
Social psychologist Stanley Milgram researched the effect of authority
on obedience.He concluded people obey either out of fear or out of a desire to
appear cooperative—even when acting against their own better judgment and
desires.Miligram recruited subjects of his experiments from various walks in
life. Respondents were told the experiment would study the effects of
punishment on learning ability. They were even offered a cash award for
participating!Although respondents thought they had an equal chance of playing
the role of a ‘’student’’ or of a ‘’teacher’’, the process was rigged so all
respondents ended up playing the teacher. The learner was an actor ( not a
volunteer ) working as a cohort of the experimenter.
‘’Teachers’’ were asked to administer increasingly severe electric shocks to the ‘’learner’’ when questions were answered incorrectly.In reality, the only electric shocks delivered in the excperiment were single 45-volt samples given to each teacher. This was done to give teachers a feeling for the jolts they thought they would be discharging.
Shock levels were labeled from 15 to 450 (!!) volts. Besides the numerical scale, verbal anchors added to the frightful appearance of the instrument. Beginning from the lower end, jolt levels were labeled: ‘’slight shock,’’ ‘’moderate shock,’’ ‘’strong shock,’’ ‘’very strong shock,’’ ‘’intense shock,’’ and ‘’extreme intensity shock.’’ The next two anchors were ‘’Danger : Severe Shock,’’ and , past that, a simple but ghastly ‘’XXX.’’
‘’Teachers’’ were asked to administer increasingly severe electric shocks to the ‘’learner’’ when questions were answered incorrectly.In reality, the only electric shocks delivered in the excperiment were single 45-volt samples given to each teacher. This was done to give teachers a feeling for the jolts they thought they would be discharging.
Shock levels were labeled from 15 to 450 (!!) volts. Besides the numerical scale, verbal anchors added to the frightful appearance of the instrument. Beginning from the lower end, jolt levels were labeled: ‘’slight shock,’’ ‘’moderate shock,’’ ‘’strong shock,’’ ‘’very strong shock,’’ ‘’intense shock,’’ and ‘’extreme intensity shock.’’ The next two anchors were ‘’Danger : Severe Shock,’’ and , past that, a simple but ghastly ‘’XXX.’’
In response to the supposed jolts, the ‘’learner’’ ( actor ) would begin
to grunt at 75 volts; complain at 120 volts; ask to be released at 150 volts;
plead with increasing vigor, next; and let out agonized screams at 285
volts.Eventually, in desperation, the learner was to yell loudly to complain of
heart pain.
At some point the actor would refuse to answer to any more questions.
Finally, at 330 volts the actor would be totally silent-that is , if any of the
teacher participants got so far without rebelling first.
Teachers were instructed to treat silence as an incorrect answer and apply the next shock level to the student.
If at any point the innocent teacher hesitated to inflict the shocks, the emperimenter would pressure him to proceed. Such demands would take the form of increasingly severe statements , such as ‘’The experiment requires that you continue.’’
What do you think was the average voltage given by teachers before they refused to administer further shocks? What percentage of teachers, if any,do you think went up to the maximum voltage of 450?!
Results from the experiment :
Some teachers refused to continue with the shocks early on, despite urging from the experimenter. This is the type of response milgram expected as the norm. But milgram was shocked to find those who questioned authority were in the minority. 65% of the teachers were *willing* to progress to the maximum voltage level!!
Participants were debriefed after the experiment and showed much relief at finding they had not harmed the student. One cried from emotion when he saw the student alive, and explained that he thought he had killed him. But what was different about those who obeyed and those who rebelled?
Milgram divided participants into three categories:
Obeyed but justifies themselves :
Some obedient participants gave up responsibility for their actions, blaming the experimenter. If anything had happened to the learner they reasoned , it would have been the experimenter’s fault. Others had transferred the blame to the learner: ‘’He was so stupid and stubborn,he deserved to be shocked.’’(!)
Teachers were instructed to treat silence as an incorrect answer and apply the next shock level to the student.
If at any point the innocent teacher hesitated to inflict the shocks, the emperimenter would pressure him to proceed. Such demands would take the form of increasingly severe statements , such as ‘’The experiment requires that you continue.’’
What do you think was the average voltage given by teachers before they refused to administer further shocks? What percentage of teachers, if any,do you think went up to the maximum voltage of 450?!
Results from the experiment :
Some teachers refused to continue with the shocks early on, despite urging from the experimenter. This is the type of response milgram expected as the norm. But milgram was shocked to find those who questioned authority were in the minority. 65% of the teachers were *willing* to progress to the maximum voltage level!!
Participants were debriefed after the experiment and showed much relief at finding they had not harmed the student. One cried from emotion when he saw the student alive, and explained that he thought he had killed him. But what was different about those who obeyed and those who rebelled?
Milgram divided participants into three categories:
Obeyed but justifies themselves :
Some obedient participants gave up responsibility for their actions, blaming the experimenter. If anything had happened to the learner they reasoned , it would have been the experimenter’s fault. Others had transferred the blame to the learner: ‘’He was so stupid and stubborn,he deserved to be shocked.’’(!)
Others felt badly about what they had done and were quite harsh on themselves. Members of this group would, perharps, be more likely to challenge authority if confronted with a similar situation in the future.
Rebbeled:
Finally, rebellious subjects questioned the authority of the experimenter and argued there was a greater ethical imperative calling for the protection of the learner over the needs of the experimenter. Some of these individuals felt they were accountable to a higher authority.
The question is : Why were those who challenged authority in the minority?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzTuz0mNlwU&feature=relmfu here is an example of this experiment.
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