Stanley Milgram Research Paper

July 1961, Yale University Psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to test peoples’ obedience to authority figures. He wanted to see how many people would comply or resist commands by (an idea of) an authority figure. Migram’s experiment began with two men about twenty to fifty years in age. The participants volunteered through an advertisement and a promise of $4.50 for their participation. One man would assume the role of the “teacher”, and the other would act as the “student”. Milgram then explained to them the process of what would transpire. The student would be strapped to a chair in one room and the teacher would sit at a desk in another room, where neither man could see each other. The teacher would read off words in

Their answer was ten per cent; the reality was fifty percent of the participants obeyed the commands fully, disregarding the student’s cries of pain and protest. He came to the conclusion that the vast majority of people would comply to the demands of a greater authority figure, even if it was wrong or forced someone to hurt another human being. It’s a scary thought to think that half of the people involved in this experiment continued to go on with the procedure, even when they were “hurting” the other person— and the operation was a fluke, commanded by a psychologist from Yale. If someone that insignificant can hold that much power over people, what sort of things would we do if it was the government demanding requests? One issue that has sparked a great deal of controversy regarding Milgram’s experiment is the ethicalness— or lack, thereof— of it. Psychologist Diana Baumrind argues that “Stanley Milgram’s study of obedience did not meet ethical standards for research,” because “participants were subjected to a research design that caused undue psychological stress that was not resolved after the