Milgram Experiment
What is it?
Milgram Experiment refers to a psychological study conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s. In this controversial experiment, participants were instructed to administer what they believed to be increasingly painful electric shocks to another person (an actor) as part of a supposed learning experiment. The study aimed to investigate obedience to authority figures and the willingness of individuals to harm others when directed by an authority figure. The results of the experiment revealed the disturbing extent to which people could be influenced to harm others under the influence of authority, raising important ethical and psychological questions.
Imagine there's a study where you're asked to be a teacher, and there's another person, let's call them "Tom," who's supposed to be your student. You're both in separate rooms, and you can't see each other, but you can talk through a speaker.
Now, a scientist tells you that this is a learning experiment. Your job is to ask Tom questions, and if he gets them wrong, you have to give him an electric shock. You can't see Tom, but you can hear him, and he sounds like he's in pain whenever you shock him.
Here's the catch: The scientist, who's an authority figure in this situation, keeps telling you to keep giving Tom bigger and more painful shocks, even if you're uncomfortable doing it. They might say things like, "It's important for the experiment" or "You must continue."
What Milgram discovered is that many people, even though they were uncomfortable and didn't want to hurt Tom, kept giving the shocks just because an authority figure told them to. They were willing to do things they thought were wrong because they felt they had to follow orders.
This experiment showed how powerful authority can be in influencing people to do things they might not want to do, and it raised importan ...