Definition of Milgram Experiment

From the psychology an attempt is made to understand the general patterns of human behavior. To achieve this objective, experiments are carried out with a large number of individuals and from the results obtained it is possible to know the main patterns of the conduct human. In 1963 the American psychologist Stanley Milgram carried out a investigation experimental to address the question of obedience to the authority.

Why was this aspect of human behavior investigated?

The choice of obedience to authority as the central issue had an explanation. Two years earlier, former Nazi Adolf Eichmann was captured in Argentina by Israel's secret services and was finally tried before a court that sentenced him to death.

During the trial Eichmann alleged in his defense that he did not design the Jewish extermination and that in his performance he was obeying the orders of his superiors. In other words, he from his point of view had acted correctly in fulfilling his responsibility

. Faced with this reality, Milgram posed a question: would a normal person be capable of executing an unknown person if someone in authority ordered them to do so?

Investigation procedure

Who were recruited for the experiment they were led to believe that they were participating in a study on memory. Thus, there were three participants: a false director of the investigation who exercised authority, a false student who became victim and between them was the deceived individual performing the role of teacher who penalizes the false answers of the students. Those who played the role of deluded teacher were instructed to activate an increasingly high electrical discharge as the student he gave the wrong answer (of course, the electric shock was also false and the recipient was faking increasingly intense seizures).

The results of the experiment were as follows: two out of three participants complied with the orders with obedience and were able to cause painful electric shocks to their students "victims". Only a third of the participants refused to inflict pain on the students.

According to Milgran's experiment, the common man is potentially a torturer

After analyze responses from the participants in the experiment, Stanley Milgram came up with the following conclusion: the ordinary human being can commit atrocities simply because he complies with orders from his superiors.

The conclusion of the investigation showed that the crimes committed by the Nazis were not due to his intrinsic evil, but could be explained in a way simpler: most individuals are easily manipulated and when an iron authority is exercised over them, inhuman and atrocious responses are produced.

Fotolia photos: LoFfofora / Blossomstar

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