The Milgram Experiment - A lesson in depravity, peer pressure, and the power of authority

[NNN0LHI]

The aftermath of the Holocaust and the events leading up to World War II, the world was stunned with the happenings in Nazi German and their acquired surrounding territories that came out during the Eichmann Trials. Eichmann, a high ranking official of the Nazi Party, was on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The questions is, "Could it be that Eichmann, and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"

Stanley Milgram answered the call to this problem by performing a series of studies on the Obedience to Authority. Milgram's work began at Harvard where he was working towards his Ph.D. The experiments on which his initial research was based were done at Yale from 1961-1962.

In response to a newspaper ad offering $4.50 for one hour's work, an individual turns up to take part in a Psychology experiment investigating memory and learning. He is introduced to a stern looking experimenter in a white coat and a rather pleasant and friendly co-subject. The experimenter explains that the experiment will look into the role of punishment in learning, and that one will be the "teacher" and one will be the "learner." Lots are drawn to determine roles, and it is decided that the individual who answered the ad will become the "teacher."

Your co-subject is taken to a room where he is strapped in a chair to prevent movement and an electrode is placed on his arm. Next, the "teacher" is taken to an adjoining room which contains a generator. The "teacher" is instructed to read a list of two word pairs and ask the "learner" to read them back. If the "learner" gets the answer correct, then they move on to the next word. If the answer is incorrect, the "teacher" is supposed to shock the "learner" starting at 15 volts.

The generator has 30 switches in 15 volt increments, each is labeled with a voltage ranging from 15 up to 450 volts. Each switch also has a rating, ranging from "slight shock" to "danger: severe shock". The final two switches are labeled "XXX". The "teacher" automatically is supposed to increase the shock each time the "learner" misses a word in the list. Although the "teacher" thought that he/she was administering shocks to the "learner", the "learner" is actually a student or an actor who is never actually harmed. (The drawing of lots was rigged, so that the actor would always end up as the "learner.") snip

Milgram's obedience experiment was replicated by other researchers. The experiments spanned a 25-year period from 1961 to 1985 and have been repeated in Australia, South Africa and in several European countries. In one study conducted in Germany, over 85% of the subjects administered a lethal electric shock to the learner.


The Milgram Experiment

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6021881080877824016&q=Milgram&total=243&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Updated Milgram Experiment

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3498891302995765561&q=Milgram&total=243&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

[patrice]

1. Absolutely necessary to understanding one's self and others.

I used to teach advanced placement Psychology and always made sure my students could explain Milgram's work and also Phillip Zimbardo's.

Also explains how so many Americans think it is okay, even good, to kill, or to help kill, people in order to "free" them.

[varkam]

2. Pretty scary stuff, indeed.

The power of the situation is vastly under-rated in our culture. If anyone reading this is at all interested in the subject matter, then I highly recommend The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo (the psychologist who was responsible for The Stanford Prison Experiment) - a lengthy read but well worth it.

[Rex]

3. Absolute power corrupts 85% of the time.

The other 15% were just too scared to try the XXX settings.

[JDPriestly]

4. The Milgram experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment

show, as I understand it, that about 60% of the population will do horribly cruel things to others if they are persuaded that an authority figure wants or is forcing them to do the cruel things. Philip Zimbardo created the Stanford Prison Experiment and has written a book on it entitled "The Lucifer Effect, Understanding How Good People Turn Evil."

I believe that this phenomenon explains why terrorists do the horrible things they do -- and why governments and politicians sometimes authorize horrendous chaos and killing. I am not talking about a specific government when I say that. There are few if any countries that can claim never to have performed some act of communal horror either on their own citizens or on the citizens of other countries.

If only we could understand the mechanism that causes us to participate so readily in brutality, the world would be a better place because we could then counteract that mechanism or disable it.

[flashl]

5. Great post. n/t