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How To Evaluate Milgram's Theory Of Obedience

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In 1963, Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, carried out an experiment into the obedience of seemingly normal Germans to Nazi authority during the Holocaust. He hoped to examine whether Americans would obey the instructions of authority, even if doing so contradicted their moral beliefs. A newspaper advertisement billed the experiment as a study into memory, calling for ordinary males from various professions. At the start of the experiment, each participant was introduced to, what they believed to be, another participant (he was in fact a confederate of Milgram). They drew straws to determine their role as either the 'teacher ' or 'learner ', although this was fixed to ensure the real participant was always the 'teacher '. …show more content…

Regardless of these morally jarring responses, 65% of participants continued to 450 volts, and all participants continued to 300 volts. The results of this study suggest that ordinary people are very likely to obey orders given by authority figures, even to the extreme of killing another person, if they see such authority as legally or morally based. Although this study proved to be massively influential in terms of human behaviour, the way in which it was conducted has been criticised. One of the main criticisms is the environment of the experiment. The study took place in a laboratory setting and this may have been reflecting in participants ' responses. It could be argued that this scenario is highly artificial and unlike real life, therefore the experiment may lack ecological validity. This brings into question whether similar observations would be made should this study be undertaken in the field. In addition, some psychologists have suggested that Milgram 's method lacked 'experimental realism ': participant might have realised the experiment was not real and that the 'learner ' was not being electrocuted. This could lower participants ' reluctance to inflict suffering - they knew no harm could be done - thus, potentially,

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