The experimenter (V) orders the subject (L) to give what the subject believes are painful electric shocks to another subject (S), who is actually an actor. The subjects believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks, but in reality there were no shocks. After the confederate (S) was separated from the subject, the confederate set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level.^[1]

The Milgram experiment was a seminal series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. Milgram first described his research in 1963 in an article published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology,^[1] and later discussed his findings in greater depth in his 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.^[2] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x634, 16 KB)Illustration of the setup of a Milgram experiment. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (500x634, 16 KB)Illustration of the setup of a Milgram experiment. ... The scope of social psychological research. ... In the scientific method, an experiment (Latin: ex- periri, of (or from) trying) is a set of observations performed in the context of solving a particular problem or question, to support or falsify a hypothesis or research concerning phenomena. ... “Yale” redirects here. ... Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... Stanley Milgram Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was a psychologist at Yale University, Harvard University and the City University of New York. ... now. ... Authority- is a very talented rocknroll band out of Columbia, S.C. This power rock trio has its roots in rock, funk, hardcore, and a dash of hip hop. ... François Chifflart (1825-1901), La Conscience (daprès Victor Hugo) Conscience is an ability or faculty or sense that leads to feelings of remorse when we do things that go against our moral values, or which informs our moral judgment before performing such an action. ...

The experiments began in July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. Milgram devised the experiments to answer this question: "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"^[3] National Socialism redirects here. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Otto Adolf Eichmann (known as Adolf Eichmann; March 19, 1906 – June 1, 1962) was a high-ranking Nazi and SS Obersturmbannführer (equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel). ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... At law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offence. ...

Milgram summarized the experiment in his 1974 article, "The Perils of Obedience", writing:

The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous importance, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' [participants'] strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' [participants'] ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation. Look up Obedience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.^[4]

The Experiment

The role of the experimentor was played by a stern, impassive biology teacher dressed in a technician's coat, and the victim was played by an Irish-American accountant trained to act for the role. The participant and the victim (supposedly another volunteer, but in reality a confederate of the experimenter) were told by the experimenter that they would be participating in an experiment helping his study of memory and learning in different situations.^[1] For the pop music band, see The The. ...

Two slips of paper were then presented to the participant and to the actor. The participant was led to believe that one of the slips said "learner" and the other said "teacher," and that he and the actor had been given the slips randomly. In fact, both slips said "teacher," but the actor claimed to have the slip that read "learner," thus guaranteeing that the participant was always the "teacher." At this point, the "teacher" and "learner" were separated into different rooms where they could communicate but not see each other. In one version of the experiment, the confederate was sure to mention to the participant that he had a heart condition.^[1] Heart Condition is a 2006 rock song from the rock musical, The Boy Who Heard Music. ...

The "teacher" was given a 45-volt electric shock from the electro-shock generator as a sample of the shock that the "learner" would supposedly receive during the experiment. The "teacher" was then given a list of word pairs which he was to teach the learner. The teacher began by reading the list of word pairs to the learner. The teacher would then read the first word of each pair and read four possible answers. The learner would press a button to indicate his response. If the answer was incorrect, the teacher would administer a shock to the learner, with the voltage increasing for each wrong answer. If correct, the teacher would read the next word pair.^[1] Josephson junction array chip developed by NIST as a standard volt. ... Sign warning of possible electric shock hazard An electric shock can occur upon contact of a human or animal body with any source of voltage high enough to cause sufficient current flow through the muscles or nerves. ...

The subjects believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks. In reality, there were no shocks. After the confederate was separated from the subject, the confederate set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level. After a number of voltage level increases, the actor started to bang on the wall that separated him from the subject. After several times banging on the wall and complaining about his heart condition, all responses by the learner would cease. ^[1]

At this point, many people indicated their desire to stop the experiment and check on the learner. Some test subjects paused at 135 volts and began to question the purpose of the experiment. Most continued after being assured that they would not be held responsible. A few subjects began to laugh nervously or exhibit other signs of extreme stress once they heard the screams of pain coming from the learner.^[1]

If at any time the subject indicated his desire to halt the experiment, he was given a succession of verbal prods by the experimenter, in this order:^[1]

1. Please continue.
2. The experiment requires that you continue.
3. It is absolutely essential that you continue.
4. You have no other choice, you must go on.

If the subject still wished to stop after all four successive verbal prods, the experiment was halted. Otherwise, it was halted after the subject had given the maximum 450-volt shock three times in succession.

Results

Before conducting the experiment, Milgram polled fourteen Yale University senior-year psychology majors as to what they thought would be the results. All of the poll respondents believed that only a sadistic few (average 1.2%) would be prepared to inflict the maximum voltage. Milgram also informally polled his colleagues and found that they, too, believed very few subjects would progress beyond a very strong shock.^[1]

In Milgram's first set of experiments, 65 percent (26 of 40)^[1] of experiment participants administered the experiment's final 450-volt shock, though many were very uncomfortable doing so; at some point, every participant paused and questioned the experiment, some said they would refund the money they were paid for participating in the experiment. No participant steadfastly refused to administer shocks before the 300-volt level.^[1]

Later, Prof. Milgram and other psychologists performed variations of the experiment throughout the world, with similar results.^[5] Moreover, Milgram later investigated the effect of the experiment's locale on obedience levels, (e.g. one experiment was held in a respectable university, the other in an unregistered, backstreet office in a bustling city; the greater the locale's respectability, the greater the obedience rate). Apart from confirming the original results, the variations have tested variables in the experimental setup.

Dr. Thomas Blass of the University of Maryland Baltimore County performed a meta-analysis on the results of repeated performances of the experiment. He found that the percentage of participants who are prepared to inflict fatal voltages remains remarkably constant, 61–66 percent, regardless of time or place.^{[6][7][verification needed]} The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public university, part of the University System of Maryland, located in the southwest Baltimore County community of Catonsville. ... A meta-analysis is a statistical practice of combining the results of a number of studies. ...

There is a little-known coda to the Milgram Experiment, reported by Philip Zimbardo: None of the participants who refused to administer the final shocks insisted that the experiment itself be terminated, nor left the room to check the health of the victim without requesting permission to leave, per Milgram's notes and recollections, when Zimbardo asked him about that point.^{[citation needed]} Philip G. Zimbardo (born March 23, 1933) is an American psychologist, best known for his Stanford prison experiment and bestselling introductions to psychology. ...

Milgram created a documentary film titled Obedience showing the experiment and its results. He also produced a series of five social psychology films, some of which dealt with his experiments.^[8]

The Milgram Experiment raised questions about the ethics of scientific experimentation because of the extreme emotional stress suffered by the participants. In Milgram's defense, 84 percent of former participants surveyed later said they were "glad" or "very glad" to have participated, 15 percent chose neutral responses (92% of all former participants responding)^[9]. Many later wrote expressing thanks. Milgram repeatedly received offers of assistance and requests to join his staff from former participants. Six years later (at the height of the Vietnam War), one of the participants in the experiment sent correspondence to Milgram, explaining why he was glad to have participated despite the stress: For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

While I was a subject in 1964, though I believed that I was hurting someone, I was totally unaware of why I was doing so. Few people ever realize when they are acting according to their own beliefs and when they are meekly submitting to authority . . . . To permit myself to be drafted with the understanding that I am submitting to authority's demand to do something very wrong would make me frightened of myself . . . . I am fully prepared to go to jail if I am not granted Conscientious Objector status. Indeed, it is the only course I could take to be faithful to what I believe. My only hope is that members of my board act equally according to their conscience . . . . The United States has employed conscription (mandatory military service, also called the draft) several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. ... It has been suggested that Conscientious objection throughout the world be merged into this article or section. ...

Yet, not every participant experienced the life-changing experience reported by some. By modern standards, participants were not fully debriefed, and exit interviews indicated many participants never fully understood the experiment's nature. ^{[citation needed]}

The experiments provoked emotional criticism more about the experiment's implications than with experimental ethics. In the journal Jewish Currents, Joseph Dimow, a participant in the 1961 experiment at Yale University, wrote about his early withdrawal as a "teacher", suspicious "that the whole experiment was designed to see if ordinary Americans would obey immoral orders, as many Germans had done during the Nazi period".^[10] Indeed, that was one of the explicitly-stated goals of the experiments. Quoting from the preface of Milgram's book, Obedience to Authority: "The question arises as to whether there is any connection between what we have studied in the laboratory and the forms of obedience we so deplored in the Nazi epoch". Jewish Currents is a progressive, secular Jewish bimonthly magazine that carries on the insurgent tradition of the Jewish left through independent journalism, political commentary, and a countercultural approach to Jewish arts and literature. ...

In 1981, Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr wrote that The Milgram Experiment and the later Zimbardo Experiment at Stanford University were frightening in their implications about the danger lurking in human nature's dark side.^[11] Thomas J. Peters (born November 7, 1942) is an American writer and expert on business management practices, best-known for co-writing the classic book, In Search of Excellence, with Robert H. Waterman, Jr. ... Robert H. Waterman Jr is the co-author, with Tom Peters, of In Search of Excellence. ... The Stanford prison experiment was a psychological study of the human response to captivity, in particular to the real world circumstances of prison life and the effects of imposed social roles on behavior. ...

Interpretations

Professor Milgram elaborated two theories explaining his results:

• The first is the theory of conformism, based on Solomon Asch's work, describing the fundamental relationship between the group of reference and the individual person. A subject who has neither ability nor expertise to make decisions, especially in a crisis, will leave decision making to the group and its hierarchy. The group is the person's behavioural model.

• The second is the agentic state theory, wherein, per Milgram, the essence of obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view himself as the instrument for carrying out another person's wishes, and he therefore no longer sees himself as responsible for his actions. Once this critical shift of viewpoint has occurred in the person, all of the essential features of obedience follow. This is the foundation of military respect for authority, soldiers will follow, obey, and execute orders and commands from superiors, understanding that responsibility for their actions rests with the commanding superior officers.

Solomon E. Asch (September 14, 1907 - February 20, 1996) was a world-renowned American Gestalt psychologist and pioneer in social psychology. ...

Variations

In Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View, Milgram describes nineteen variations of his experiment. Generally, when the victim's physical immediacy was increased, the participant's compliance decreased; when the authority's physical immediacy increased, the participant's compliance increased (Experiments 1–4). For example, in Experiment 2, where participants received telephonic instructions from the experimenter, compliance decreased to 21 percent; interestingly, some participants deceived the experimenter by pretending to continue the experiment. In the variation where the "learner's" physical immediacy was closest, wherein participants had to physically hold the "learner's" arm onto a shock plate, compliance decreased. Under that condition, 30 percent of participants completed the experiment.

In Experiment 8, women were the participants; previously, all participants had been men. Obedience did not significantly differ, though the women communicated experiencing higher levels of stress.

Experiment 10 took place in a modest office in Bridgeport, Connecticut, purporting to be the commercial entity "Research Associates of Bridgeport" without apparent connection to Yale University, to eliminate the university's prestige as a factor influencing the participants' behaviour. In those conditions, obedience dropped to 47.5 percent. Nickname: Location in Connecticut Coordinates: , NECTA Bridgeport-Stamford Region Greater Bridgeport Incorporated (town) 1821 Incorporated (city) 1836 Government  - Type Mayor-council  - Mayor John M. Fabrizi Area  - City 19. ... Official language(s) English Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Largest metro area Hartford Area  Ranked 48th  - Total 5,543[2] sq mi (14,356 km²)  - Width 70 miles (113 km)  - Length 110 miles (177 km)  - % water 12. ...

Milgram also combined the power of authority with that of conformity. In those experiments, the participant was joined by one or two additional "teachers" (also actors, like the "learner"). The behavior of the participants' peers strongly affected the results. In Experiment 17, when two, additional teachers refused to comply, only 4 of 40 participants continued in the experiment. In Experiment 18, the participant performed a subsidiary task (reading the questions via microphone or recording the learner's answers) with another "teacher" who complied fully. In that variation, only 3 of 40 defied the experimenter.^[12] he This article is about the psychological concept of conformity. ...

Recent variations on Milgram's experiment suggest an interpretation requiring neither obedience nor authority, but suggest that participants suffer learned helplessness, where they feel powerless to control the outcome, and so abdicate their personal responsibility. In a recent experiment using a computer simulation in place of the learner receiving electrical shocks, the participants administering the shocks were aware that the learner was unreal, but still showed the same results.^[13] This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

In the Primetime series Basic Instincts, the Milgram Experiment was repeated in 2006, with the same results with the men; the second experiment, with women, showed they were more likely to continue the experiment. A third experiment, with an additional teacher for peer pressure, showed peer pressure is less likely to stop a participant.^[14]

Real life examples

From April 1995 until June 30 2004, there was a series of hoaxes, known as the Strip Search Prank Call Scam, upon fast food workers in popular fast food chains in America in which a phone caller, claiming to be a police officer, persuaded authority figures to strip and sexually abuse workers. The perpetrator achieved a high level of success in persuading workers to perform acts which they would not have done under normal circumstances.^[15] (The chief suspect, David R. Stewart, was found not guilty in the only case that has gone to trial so far.^[16]) is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Strip Search Prank Call Scam was a series of incidents occurring for roughly a decade before 2004. ...

Media depictions

The Human Behavior Experiments (2006) is a documentary by Alex Gibney, about Stanley Milgram and Phillip Zimbardo and the implications of their researches.^[17] Alex Gibney is am Emmy- and Grammy-award winning American director and movie producer. ... Stanley Milgram Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was a psychologist at Yale University, Harvard University and the City University of New York. ... Philip G. Zimbardo (born March 23, 1933) is an American psychologist best-known for the Stanford prison experiment, in which 24 college students were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards in a mock prison located in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford University. ...

The Milgram Experiment itself has been depicted internationally in television and film.

• The Tenth Level, (1975) was a CBS television film about the experiment, featuring William Shatner, Ossie Davis, and John Travolta.^[18][19]
• Atrocity (2005), is a film re-enactment of the Milgram Experiment.^[20]
• Obedience is a black-and-white film of the experiment, shot by Milgram. Distributed by The Pennsylvania State University Media Services.
• The Milgram Re-enactment, 2002. Color, Exact re-enactment of one condition of the obedience experiment. Created by conceptual UK artist Rod Dickinson.

In addition, the experiment has featured notably in other projects. This article is about the broadcast network. ... William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor who gained fame for playing James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in seven of the subsequent movies. ... Ossie Davis in The Green Pastures, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1951 Ossie Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an African American film actor, director and social activist. ... John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, dancer, and singer. ... The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a state-related land-grant university in Pennsylvania, with over 80,000 students at 24 campuses throughout the state. ...

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005), a documentary film by Alex Gibney, refers to the Milgram Experiment as the rationale for the actions of Enron's line-level employees. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. ^[21] The Documentary Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, directed by Rory Kennedy, uses actual films clips from the Milgram Experiment.^[22] The documentary won an Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special.^[23] Alex Gibney is am Emmy- and Grammy-award winning American director and movie producer. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is a 2007 documentary film directed by Rory Kennedy. ... Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy (born December 12, 1968) is the youngest of the eleven children of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy. ... An Emmy Award. ...

See also

• Stanford prison experiment
• Asch conformity experiments
• Little Eichmanns
• My Lai Massacre
• Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse

The Stanford prison experiment was a psychological study of the human response to captivity, in particular to the real world circumstances of prison life and the effects of imposed social roles on behavior. ... The Asch conformity experiments, published in 1951, were a series of studies that starkly demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. ... Little Eichmanns is a phrase coined by anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan. ... The My Lai Massacre ( , approximately ) (Vietnamese: thảm sát Mỹ Lai) was the mass murder of 347 to 504 defenseless Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children, conducted by U.S. Army forces on March 16, 1968, in the hamlet of My Lai, during the Vietnam War. ... It has been suggested that Nature of Abu Ghraib abuse be merged into this article or section. ...

Footnotes

Thomas J. Peters (born November 7, 1942) is an American writer and expert on business management practices, best-known for co-writing the classic book, In Search of Excellence, with Robert H. Waterman, Jr. ... Robert H. Waterman Jr is the co-author, with Tom Peters, of In Search of Excellence. ... In Search of Excellence is an international bestselling book written by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr, first published in 1982. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

References

Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1952. ... American Scientist (ISSN 0003-0996) is an illustrated bimonthly magazine about science and technology. ... // Präger, Praeger, Prager, Preger: This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ... This article is about the literary magazine and publisher. ...

External links

Listen to this article ( info/dl)

This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-04-12, and may not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)

More spoken articles

   

• Stanley Milgram Redux, TBIYTB - description of a recent iteration of Milgram's experiment at Yale University, published in "The Yale Hippolytic," Jan. 22, 2007.
• Behavioral Study of Obedience - Milgram's journal article describing the experiment in, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1963, Vol. 67, No. 4, 371-378
• Synthesis of book A faithful synthesis of "Obedience to Authority" – Stanley Milgram
• A personal account of a participant in the Milgram obedience experiments
• Summary and evaluation of the 1963 obedience experiment
• The Science of Evil from ABC News Primetime
• When Good People Do Evil Article in the Yale Alumni Magazine by Philip Zimbardo on the 45th anniversary of the Milgram experiment.
• Obedience - Original footage of the milgram experiment on Google Video.

Milgram experiment. ... Image File history File links Sound-icon. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Sound-icon. ...