What did the milgram experiment show?

Answer 1

Milgram's experiment showed a number of things. The initial experiment involved participants being asked to give apparently harmful and potentially lethal electric shocks to a stooge (who they thought was simply a participant) upon the stooge's incorrect answers. It was estimated by Psychiatrists that most people would drop out early on and refuse to keep on giving shocks, and that nobody would go all the way to 400 volts. In actuality, everyone sent severe and dangerous shocks of 300 volts, and most went all the way.

This shows that people are generally willing to obey an authority figure, even when it might lead to harming or even killing another person.

Milgram also did a number of variations on his experiment, with it taking place in an old office block, with the experimenter phoning through instructions, with other stooges acting as support, or refusing to continue the experiment, and so on.

These variations showed that people are less likely to obey if their victim is closer, if the setting doesn't suggest legitimate authority, if the experimenter is not nearby, or if other participants are refusing to obey. They also showed that someone is much more likely to obey if the participant believes someone else is sending the shocks, not them.

Answer 2

Obey authority figures-- Apex

Answer 3

That, the human behavior can be manipulated by its environnment.

Men reacts differently under authority. Some obey without questionning, other take initiative, some would refuse. When you let a man with impunity, a man can act as a monster. This experience shows that every man, even a good one, can in circumstances do horrible actions.

This experience explained how the Nazi system worked during the war. By sectionning responsabilities (the soldier who "only" arrest people, the train driver who only took the victims in the Camps, etc...), you can make people think they are not responsible.

It is like in a shooting execution : one soldier in the group has a blank ammunition.

The German movie, Das experiment, is maybe the best movie that explain this.

A American author, I don't remember the name (may be Menckel) wrote :

Every normal man can be tempted by times to spit in its hand, to hoist the black flag and to cut som throats.

Think of it

Answer 4

His experiment basically studied if whether the teacher would obey the "authority" to increase the voltage of shock or if the teacher would stop.Obedience is the key word to the experiment.

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The experiment studied how humans can easily be coerced into doing something wrong by an expert. It was designed to provide an explanation for why events such as the Holocaust could possibly have happened.

In the experiment, a scientist (in a white coat) would invite a volunteer to play the role of a teacher in a 'learning experiment'. The scientist instructed the teacher to read out questions to a 'pupil', who was strapped in an electric chair. What the teacher didn't know was that the electric chair was fake and the pupil was an actor who was pretending to receive the shocks.

For every wrong answer, the teacher would have to give the pupil an electric shock, and the voltages had to increase each time. Eventually, the voltages became lethal. Naturally, most teachers became very uncomfortable carrying out the instructions, so the scientist would reassure assure them that there would be no permanent harm done and if necessary, 'prod' them into continuing. If the teacher refused after being 'prodded' several times, the experiment ended. About 2/3 of teachers continued the experiment to the final 450-Volt shock.

Later experiments changed the set-up slightly. Teachers were less likely to obey if they were close to the pupil, or if they were further away from the scientist. The original experiment took place at the world-famous Yale University, but the results weren't vastly different when it was tried in a back-street shop. Milgram used men exclusively during the original experiments, when he used women as teachers, they were more visibly stressed by the experiment but just as likely to obey orders. When Milgram added some obedient assistants to the experiment, 90% of teachers continued to the end. When Milgram used 'rebellious' assistants instead, only 10% of teachers reached the end.

Answer 5

It was inspired by the Nuremburg trials and the later arrests of further Nazi leaders. Many ex-Nazis who had been involved in the Holocaust pleaded that they had only been obeying orders. Naturally, few convinced the judges this was the case. However, Milgram was interested to see how so many people had been coerced into assisting the genocide.

The aim of the experiment was to see if a volunteer could be coerced into doing something which went against their own moral judgment (giving electric shocks to a victim, which gradually increased to lethal voltages) if they were being instructed by an authority figure (a scientist in a white coat). If the volunteer became uncomfortable with the proceedings (and this nearly always happenened) the scientist would reassure them that the experiment was safe and they would not be responsible for it.

The experiment was faked, with an actor sitting in the chair pretending to receive the shocks. The volunteer was told they would be helping out in a 'learning experiment, to see how punishment assists the learning process' in which the victim would be asked questions and given shocks for each wrong answer.

Answer 6

Agreeing to a small request makes it more likely you will agree to a big request.

Answer 7

That people obey authority i think that is the answer

Explanation: apex

Answer 8

even though people were sometimes uncomfortable, they still obeyed the authority figure.

Answer 9

The Stanford prison experiment was a psychological experiment that was cut early and afterwards deemed unethical. It showed just how volatile the human personality is.

Answer 10

They mostly did it to measure the willingness of study participant to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.