Question

Stanley Milgram was interested in how easily ordinary people could be influenced into

committing atrocities. He was researching how far people would go in obeying an
instruction if it involved harming another perso
2. What is important about the subjects in Milgram's experiments?
3. How did Milgram set up his experiment? Think of it in terms of steps

Answer 1

1-2. About the Milgram experiment, the following ought to be noted about the subjects that were involved:

• Subjects were male and were selected by placing adverts which took place at Yale University
• the role each participant took ("learner" or "teacher") was designed to look like it was selected randomly
• However, when two participants were selected and a lot was taken between both of them, it was fixed so that the external participant was always the teacher, and the learner was one of Milgram’s confederates (whose job was to pretend to be a real participant). This part was very important because, learners were not really electrocuted but pretended to be.
• Milgram carried out 18 variations of this experiment
• it was set up in such as way that even when the teachers would not administer the electric shock they were proded by an instructor as follows:

1. Prod 1: Please continue (if the teacher refused)
2. Prod 2: The experiment requires you to continue (after refusal)
3. Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue (if they are still adamant)
4. Prod 4: You have no other choice but to continue

Step-by-step explanation:

The result of the experiment shows that people were prone to obey authority figures even if it meant killing another person for a cause that was morally justified or in the name of the greater good.

They were able to do this because the prodding and the way the experiment was set up allowed them to escape responsibility for their actions. This state of mind is called the agentic state.

Cheers!