The Milgram Experiment

 The Milgram experiment, conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, aimed to investigate obedience to authority figures. It remains a highly influential and controversial study in psychology due to its unexpected findings and ethical concerns.

Procedure:

·         Participants were told they were involved in a learning experiment.

·         In reality, they were the "teachers" administering shocks to a "learner" (an actor) in another room.

·         The shock generator was fake, but the experimenters portrayed it as delivering increasingly powerful shocks (up to 450 volts) with each wrong answer from the learner.

·         The "learner" (actor) would feign discomfort, groans of pain, and eventually complete silence as the shocks supposedly intensified.

Results:

·         A surprisingly high percentage of participants (around 65%) continued administering shocks to the maximum level, despite the learner's apparent suffering and pleas to stop.

·         The experiment highlighted the power of the situation and the influence of authority figures in inducing obedience, even when it conflicted with personal conscience.

Conclusion

Milgram's experiment provides valuable insights into the potential dangers of blind obedience to authority. It demonstrates how social influence and situational pressures can lead individuals to behave in ways that contradict their own moral compass.