Analysis Of Stanley Milgram's Theory Of Obedience

Stanley Milgram’s theory focused on obedience, and to more specifically, find an answer for the mass killings that happened during the holocaust at the time of World War 2. In his experiment, he wanted to study the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience in human behavior. The experiment is criticized today for its unethical procedures, but at the time, it sheds a light to others about how and why people carry out actions, and how far do people push harmful actions onto others. In the same manner, the results shocked Milgram and his researchers. Many thought only a small percentage of people would continue to inflict painful shocks to a “learner”, they were surprised to find 65% would continue with the experiment and

In the experiment, people would obey the researchers because they were the ones in the lab coats. People would obey because of where they were. Environment and status play a huge role in obeying someone, along with tone of voice. Milgram also stated in his published paper, Behavioral Study of Obedience, “obedience serves numerous productive functions. Indeed, the very life of society is predicated on its existence. Obedience may be ennobling and educative and refer to acts of charity and kindness as well as to destruction (Milgram, 1963).” Meaning, while the factors may contribute to negative outcomes, they can also create positive outcomes. Learning about those factors however, and understanding them leads to the bigger picture of

More conversations about theories and experiments can lead to an overall better understanding of what makes people behave and obey the way they do. In terms of specifically the obedience theory, the most important aspects to take away from the experiment that Milgram largely intended on is that fact those who review obedience research better understand what factors in general cause people to obey and carry out bad behavior, continue to question authority's legitimacy, and are better able to stand up against arbitrary or unjust authority in the future, which is essential in learning about human thought and behavior. Essentially this topic connects to all parts of what makes a society work and trust each other, as well as learning from mistakes and