The Milgram Experiment, conducted in the early 1960s by psychologist Stanley Milgram, was primarily aimed at understanding obedience to authority figures.
This groundbreaking research emerged in the wake of the Nuremberg Trials, where Nazis defended their heinous acts during the Holocaust by claiming they were “just following orders.”
Milgram sought to investigate how far individuals would go in obeying an authority figure, especially when their actions conflicted with their personal conscience and ethical standards.
In the experiment, participants were led to believe they were part of a study on the effects of punishment on learning.
Each participant was assigned the role of a “teacher” and was instructed to administer electric shocks to a “learner” (an actor in collusion with the experimenters) for every incorrect answer given during a word-pairing task.
With each mistake, the supposed voltage of the shocks increased. Unbeknownst to the participants, no real shocks were administered, but the setup was convincingly realistic, complete with prerecorded screams for certain shock levels.
The true focus of the study was to observe how far the “teachers” would go in administering shocks, particularly when urged by an authoritative experimenter to continue, despite the apparent distress and pleas for mercy from the “learner.”
The findings were startling: a significant majority of participants (65%) were willing to administer the highest level of shocks, even when they believed these shocks were causing severe pain or distress, simply because they were instructed to do so by an authority figure.
The experiment highlighted a profound and disturbing capacity for human obedience, raising critical questions about the nature of authority and individual moral responsibility.
Milgram’s experiment has since become a fundamental part of psychology, ethics, and social sciences, illustrating the complex interplay between authority, obedience, and conscience in human behavior.