Final answer:
The main finding of Milgram's shock experiment is that many people are willing to obey authority figures and carry out unreasonable or unethical orders, as evidenced by participants' readiness to administer severe electric shocks to others under direction. Therefore the correct answer is D) many people obey unreasonable or unethical orders.
Step-by-step explanation:
Milgram's Shock Experiment
The main finding of Milgram's shock experiment is that many people obey unreasonable or unethical orders. Nearly two-thirds of the participants in Milgram's study were willing to deliver what they believed to be lethal electric shocks to another person when instructed to do so by an authority figure. This result demonstrated a strong tendency to comply with authority even when actions could cause harm to others.
Stanley Milgram, the social psychologist behind the experiment, was influenced by the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann had defended himself by claiming he was 'just following orders' during the Holocaust. Milgram's experiment showed that ordinary people could be driven by obedience to authority to potentially harm another person, reflecting on how societal hierarchy and authority impacts moral choices.
Variations of the experiment revealed that obedience could decrease when the victim's humanity was emphasized, or when the authority of the experimenter was less present. Factors such as the physical presence of the learner or receiving orders over the phone had a significant effect on participants' willingness to deliver the shocks.