Milgram Study of Destructive Obedience Aim: to investigate how obedient
people would be to orders from a
person in authority that would result
Background
in pain and harm to another person.
Milgram was interested in destructive obedience – following an order to
Specifically: to see how large an
harm someone electric shock participants would give
Milgram was from a European Jewish family so he was profoundly to a helpless man when ordered to by
affected by the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against Jewish a scientist in his own laboratory.
people and other minority groups. Method
One of the key features of the Nazi atrocities was the extent to which
ordinary people displayed destructive obedience which led to the Design
systematic mass murder of minority groups (genocide). Milgram himself described it as a laboratory experiment but
Early psychological research into the Holocaust focused on the idea that it might be more accurate to call it a pre-experiment as it only
there was something distinctive about German personality or culture that had one condition
led to the high levels of conformity and obedience necessary for genocide The results from this condition then served as a baseline for a
to take place – dispositional hypothesis. number of variations in follow-up studies
However, Milgram was also interested in the social processes that take DV: obedience, operationalised as the maximum voltage given
in response to the orders
place between individuals and within groups
Situational hypothesis – the idea that we can explain events like the Participants
Holocaust by reference to the social processes operating in the situation
40 men aged 20-50
rather than the characteristics of the individuals involved
Recruited by means of newspaper advertisement – self-selected sample
Range of backgrounds and jobs – 37.5% manual labourers, 40% white collar workers, 22.5%
professionals
All from New Haven district of North America
Materials
Electric shock generator – had a row of switches, each labelled with a voltage, rising in 15 volt
intervals from 15V up to 450V – participants were told that the shocks could be extremely
painful but not dangerous – they were given a 45V shock to demonstrate
White lab coat
people would be to orders from a
person in authority that would result
Background
in pain and harm to another person.
Milgram was interested in destructive obedience – following an order to
Specifically: to see how large an
harm someone electric shock participants would give
Milgram was from a European Jewish family so he was profoundly to a helpless man when ordered to by
affected by the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against Jewish a scientist in his own laboratory.
people and other minority groups. Method
One of the key features of the Nazi atrocities was the extent to which
ordinary people displayed destructive obedience which led to the Design
systematic mass murder of minority groups (genocide). Milgram himself described it as a laboratory experiment but
Early psychological research into the Holocaust focused on the idea that it might be more accurate to call it a pre-experiment as it only
there was something distinctive about German personality or culture that had one condition
led to the high levels of conformity and obedience necessary for genocide The results from this condition then served as a baseline for a
to take place – dispositional hypothesis. number of variations in follow-up studies
However, Milgram was also interested in the social processes that take DV: obedience, operationalised as the maximum voltage given
in response to the orders
place between individuals and within groups
Situational hypothesis – the idea that we can explain events like the Participants
Holocaust by reference to the social processes operating in the situation
40 men aged 20-50
rather than the characteristics of the individuals involved
Recruited by means of newspaper advertisement – self-selected sample
Range of backgrounds and jobs – 37.5% manual labourers, 40% white collar workers, 22.5%
professionals
All from New Haven district of North America
Materials
Electric shock generator – had a row of switches, each labelled with a voltage, rising in 15 volt
intervals from 15V up to 450V – participants were told that the shocks could be extremely
painful but not dangerous – they were given a 45V shock to demonstrate
White lab coat
