Milgram’s Original Study of Obedience (1963 - Social Unit 1

Aim:

-          To look at how obedient participants would be when following orders given by an authoritive figure causing moral strain.

Procedure:

-          40 Participants between the ages of 20-50 years old

-          Collected through a volunteer sample advertised in the paper

-          Participants met Mr Wallace (stooge) and were either assigned as the ‘learner’ or the ‘teacher’

-          The study was fixed so that Mr Wallace was always the ‘learner’

-          Mr Wallace was strapped to a shock generator and placed on one side of a screen so that the participant could not see him

-          The participants asked Mr Wallace questions and were told to administer increasing electric shocks up to 450v each time Mr Wallace made an error

-          There was an experimenter in the room overseeing the operation (stooge)

-          If the participant tried not to continue the experimenter would prompt them to continue.

Results:

-          All the participants gave Mr Wallace at least 300 volts

-          65% of participants gave the maximum 450 volts to an apparently dead Mr Wallace

Conclusion:

-          Most participants were evidently stressed throughout the procedure some wept and begged in distress, some even believed they had killed Mr Wallace, showing that they thought they had no choice to continue despite clearly feeling moral strain.

-          Proves that the autonomous state exists that we will follow orders whether they cause moral strain or not because we feel that society requires it of us.