Cruelty, By Stanley Milgram

This essay will look at an important key psychological experiment carried out by the renowned social psychologist Stanley Milgram which was carried out in the early 1960’s (Banyard 2012) to determine how far ordinary people would go to inflict pain to a fellow human based on instruction from an authority figure, and that of the replication of the experiment which was carried out by Burger in 2009 (Byford 2014) to determine if the same level of obedience was still applicable in the 21st Century, as was observed in the original study some 40 years earlier. The

Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiment has definitely set the basis to explain the pain inflicted by a human being on another human only if she is ordered to. He asserted that a normal human being can become an element of destructive agents of even when the destructive effects of their work becomes patently clear as they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with basic moral standards.

In his studies, Milgram discovered that sixty-five percent of the test subject followed through with the experiment when asked to continue. Milgram’s experiments made me question human kind, it’s known that people will hurt and even kill each other, however, can an ordinary person become a killer if put in a situation where killing is called for? Of course in a life or death situation a person may be able to kill another but the capabilities of doing so just because an authority figure told them to or when one is placed in surroundings where killing is obligatory, this is what got my

If a person of authority ordered you inflict a 15 to 400 volt electrical shock on another innocent human being, would you follow your direct orders? That is the question that Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University tested in the 1960’s. Most people would answer “no,” to imposing pain on innocent human beings but Milgram wanted to go further with his study. Writing and Reading across the Curriculum holds a shortened edition of Stanley Milgram’s “The Perils of Obedience,” where he displays an eye-opening experiment that tests the true obedience of people under authority figures. He observes that most people go against their natural instinct to never harm innocent humans and obey the extreme and dangerous instructions of authority

Stanley Milgram experiment bought forth the ultimate question in social psychology. How far away is someone go to confirm with society and be obedient to an authority to figure? It has been discovered though such experiments that people will obey orders, even if it inflicts harm on another individual. However, the same individuals were unwilling to inflict harm if it involved personal contact with the individual being harmed or even the sounds of pain and please from the individual being harmed.

The Excerpt “The Peril of Obedience by Stanley Milgram discusses an experiment testing on individuals through cruel and unmoral experiments. After reading Milgram’s text about the experiments conducted to see if individuals would compile with authority even if the command was unmoral. Stanley Milgram, an excerpt From “The Perils of obedience”, states that Milgram is making the following statement concerning the condition of the experiment: “This condition of the experiment undermines another commonly offered explanation of the subjects’ behavior- that those who shocked the victim at the most severe levels came only from sadistic fringe of society” (Milgram 699). By stating this Milgram explains that even if it means harming other human beings

Growing up my family has always thought me to be obedient, but also know the difference between what is right and wrong. I am not saying that my family or I am perfect, but I have always strived to do the right thing. I understand, in society today that we have jobs and responsibility, that sometimes it can compromise our principles, but like every person, we have certain boundaries that we just cannot let ourselves pass. In “The Perils of Obedience by Stanley Milgram, a study was conducted on several subjects to test their obedience and how far they would go to as the “teacher” to administer a shock to a “student “that the authority figure “experimenter” ordered them to give. Among the test subject was Gretchen Brandt, a thirty-one –year –old

In “The Perils of Obedience”, social psychologist Stanley Milgram reveals the results of an experiment he performed trying to see if one would hurt another in order to obey authority. The experiments involved three subjects: the experimenter (authority), the teacher, and the learner. The experimenter only made sure that the experiment was performed, while the teacher had to read a series of words and the learner, strapped in an electric chair, had to remember the words read to him. If the learner incorrectly responded to the teacher, the learner would be given an electric shock. As the learner starts to give wrong answers the shock level rises.

Obedience is a basic behavior that practically everyone has. Unfortunately, some authority is essential for community living. In a way, obedience is a form of submission as old as time itself. Society appears threatened by disobedience and hesitation. In the experiments described in “The Perils of Obedience”, ethics and hesitation get in the way of obedience.

The Milgram experiment is one of the most controversial psychology experiments of the past century. I was familiar with it prior to accessing the simulation on the elearning site from an ABC television Four Corners episode on the nature of torture. So when I participated in the simulation, I stopped administering the shock at the first sign of distress from the subject at thirty watts. If I was in the actual Milgram experiment I would like to believe that I would have behaved in the same way. Human nature dictates that we believe that only abnormal people are capable of sinister behavior. This belief that internal attributions cause certain behaviours assures us of some stability and security in our day-to-day lives and yet the

“Why is man so prone to obey?” People are herd animals because they realize that the power of solidarity can help them develop, and have strength to fight against difficulty. Therefore, they gather together to help each other and gradually become our society. Within a group or a society, there must be a leader and rules, which becomes government and laws. The government uses the laws to control and keep the society stable. In our society, people will be protected which makes them feel secure. In addition, they have to obey the laws to receive protection and not to be punished. Moreover, people can change their decision when they are under social pressure or traditional pressure. One thing is also important that if people have to take responsibilities

Stanley Milgram, an American social psychologist, writes in his article “The Perils of Obedience” about an experiment he designed which forced participants to either obey the demands of an authority figure, in this case the experimenter, or to turn against obedience and refuse to proceed in the experiment (Milgram 78). He found from this experiment that a minority of the participants refused to obey orders by the experimenter; therefore, most of the participants followed the orders given by the experimenter knowing it would result in the learner’s pain (Milgram 80). Milgram believes his results did not prove that these participants were sadists or mass murderers; however, his results did prove that ordinary people simply obeying orders can

The experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram have become one of the most controversial and most influential experiments in the world of psychology. In 1963 the Milgram experiments took place at Yale University, and tested subjects on obedience to authority. While reading Stanly Milgram’s “The Perils of Obedience” the topic of authority to obedience is discussed by Milgram stating: “Obedience is one of the most basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to” (691). Submission to authority is not a new concept, but with the Milgram experiments it has been given a new insight to Obedience to authority. Milgram was inspired to conduct the experiments because of the events before and during World War II, and the Nazi’s ability to maintain control of the Jewish people. While the experiments performed were cruel and insensitive, I agree with the conclusions Milgram gained from the experiments because people are taught to obey authority from childhood, and Ordinary people can commit immoral acts and, defiance can result in punishment.

Stanley Milgram conducted one of the most controversial psychological experiments of all time: the Milgram Experiment. Milgram was born in a New York hospital to parents that immigrated from Germany. The Holocaust sparked his interest for most of his young life because as he stated, he should have been born into a “German-speaking Jewish community” and “died in a gas chamber.” Milgram soon realized that the only way the “inhumane policies” of the Holocaust could occur, was if a large amount of people “obeyed orders” (Romm, 2015). This influenced the hypothesis of the experiment. How much pain would someone be willing to inflict on another just because an authority figure urged them to do so? The experiment involved a teacher who would ask questions to a concealed learner and a shock system. If the learner answered incorrectly, he would receive a shock. Milgram conducted the experiment many times over the course of 2 years, but the most well-known trial included 65% of participants who were willing to continue until they reached the fatal shock of 450 volts (Romm, 2015). The results of his experiment were so shocking that many people called Milgram’s experiment “unethical.”

Out of all the topics we have gone over the course of this class, obedience fascinates me the most. It is perplexing, thought provoking, and morally confusing. Obedience is paramount to the structure of our society yet stories of destructive obedience haunt us. From the atrocities of the Holocaust to the massacres in Vietnam we glimpse at the horrors humans are capable of. All the while, perpetrators vindicate their actions with relative ease. The justification for every genocide, mass murder, and ethnic cleansing; 'I was merely ordered.” Us average civilians will likely take solace in the belief we would never commit such crimes. However, in 1964, Stanley Milgram tore down that façade with his landmark paper The Perils of Obedience. Milgram showed that a majority of average people will do horrific things if commanded by an authoritative figure.