In 1963, a psychologist called Stanley Milgram began an experiment to prove Americans would not obey the same way the Germans had during world war two. However, what he discovered disproved this theory straight away. Although Milgram experiment was not without faults and had many ethical issues. His work has changed our view on conformity and has had a significant impact on the psychological field. Milgram's work has also inspired a lot of further research.
Milgram experiment began with an ad in a local newspaper asking for volunteers to take part in a study to do with memory and learning. 40 males volunteered, 80% of them were blue and white-collar workers, the other 20% were professionals. Milgram predicted hardly anyone would conform. He also asked psychology students, they believed less than 1% would conform.
To begin with, the participants met with the experimenter who was wearing a white lab coat and a man called Mr. Wallace who the participants believed to be another participant but Mr. Wallace
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This study caused a lot of psychological harm on the participants and all the participants were deceived and therefore couldn't give full consent to take part in the experiment. Milgram has defended his experiment saying that in follow up interviews, there was no evidence of any long-lasting psychological problems. This suggests that while participants were caused a lot of stress and anxiety while taking part in the study. The stress and anxiety inflicted on them had no long-lasting effect. another evaluation that can be a negative or positive of Milgram research is that it can be linked to the Holocaust. Psychologists Staub (2014) believes that comparing Milgram experiment to the Nazis could have a lot of negative implications, as it could lead to Nazis behavior being excused and them not taking responsibility for their actions. This connection can also be seen as positive as