How_and_Why_Milgram's_Research_on_Obedience_Contributed_to_Our_Understanding_of_Human_Behaviour_

How and why Milgram’s research on obedience contributed to our understanding of human behaviour' Aims of the report: • How Stanley Milgram as contributed to human behaviour. • Ethical Issues with the Obedience Studies • How it is Stanley Milgram relevant in the real world and why it’s still relevant today • How ethical was Stanley Milgram work and would it work outside the laboratory Introduction Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) born in New York City to jewish parents, his first degree was in political science, afterwards he did a crash course in psychology. He is most well known for his Obedience Studies. Milgram was inspired like others by Second World War. “The key question Milgram wanted to explore is “What makes people do evil things'” (DSE141 2010) Ethical Issues Stanley Milgram’s (1961) study of obedience was controversial and raised many ethical concerns. The subjects in this study were deceived and led to believe they were actually administering electrical shocks to a person who would shout out in pain. The subjects applied the shocks, with an increasingly higher voltage simply because authority commanded them to do so. Each time, the recipient of the shocks, who was merely an actor, would protest pitifully, asking them to stop. Findings of this study showed that 65% of the subjects obeyed the commands and gave shocks up to 450 volts. The problem with this experiment was that it was extremely stressful on the subjects, and could have traumatised them. They were hurting an innocent person they didn’t even know. Although wanting to stop the experiment due to the protesting and even screaming recipient of the shocks, the subjects were urged by the experimenter to continue. This experiment was very powerful and although it was considered ethical in the 1960’s and would not be today, the findings were important to the study of obedience. To Milgram's credit, he made sure his subjects suffered no lasting harm. Milgram did reveal the true intention of the experiment. He also arranged a reconciliation with the learner as soon as the experiment was over, asking the confederate who played the role to come into the room and shake hands with the teacher before the teacher left. Milgram experiment showed the following effects on human behaviour: 1. The proximity of the “teacher” and “learner’’ to each other is crucial. 2. Most people will abandon their morals because they are told to do so by an authority figure. 3. People are capable of actions that are inhumane. Replications in the ‘real world’ and relevance today As mentioned above ethic laws would not allow the original study to go ahead today, so up until recently replications have been impossible. That was until Mel Slater and colleagues (2006) came up with the idea of virtual simulation by using an avatar. Just like with the original experiment: • Volunteer played teacher • Avatar played learner • Presence of authority figure • Teacher shocked learner for incorrect answers U475186X Mel Slater and colleagues (2006) concluded that the volunteer: • responded like avatar was human • highly stressed • frustrated by incorrect answers • followed orders • looked for guidance Thus showing that the volunteers still showed signs of being distressed even though they was not hurting anyone just like the volunteers did forty years ago in Milgram’s original study. As Milgram wrote (1974, p. 205) ‘The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act’. Outside of the laboratory Milgram continued to explore obedience in normal everyday environment like where he simply would ask a total stranger to give up their seat so he could sit down on the New York subway. In this study Milgram was able to feel the effects for himself as it took him several attempts to ask a stranger to give up their seat. In the original study Milgram had graduate students go up to people seated in crowded subway cars. This caused the volunteers to feel very uncomfortable and some was even physically sick, but still they complied with what Milgram asked. Conclusion Milgram’s research caused a lot of criticism saying it put the volunteer in highly stressful situation thus violating rules of ethics which guide psychological research. However, Milgram’s obedience study as defined social psychology for the past fifty years and still attracts interest today. Defining Stanley Milgram as an icon in social psychology. Summary Human behaviour is controlled not just by personality, but also the environment, resulting in the interaction of the environment and personality equals human behaviour and any subtle change in what is said or done as the ability to change the outcome. References Discovering Psychology, DSE141 (2010) Milton Keynes, The Open University. Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View New York Harper and Row Milgram on Milgram: Part 1 (Obedience experiments) (2010) (video), DSE141 Discovering psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Milgram on Milgram: Part 2 (Obedience experiments) (2010) (video), DSE141 Discovering psychology, Milton Keynes, The Open University