Psychologist Stanley Milgram created a beneficial distinction between two levels of social control and incorporated them into one experiment. The first level was the influence that a higher status held compared to the status of a lower individual and the second level was the impact of authority that the higher status individual had over an “awe-inspired” peer. Milgram created an obedience experiment using a wide variety of participants that ranged from postal workers to high school teachers, an electric shock generator, and of course- his own personal associates in order to observe the impact that authority has over a lower status individual. He influenced the participants to believe that the purpose of the experiment was to observe the effects
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The experiment was also rigged, so that no actual harm was performed on either of them but only believed by the participant. The participant always met- what seemed like an equal in the waiting room. This other “participant” was actually an actor for the experiment and always served as the learner in the experiment. The actual purpose of the experiment was to see if the teacher (the participant) would in fact listen to the authority of the experimenter and perform the tasks that were ordered. The idea of this experiment came from Milgram’s need to better understand the involvement of the Germans and their annihilation of six million Jews along with millions of other people during World War II. The learner or associate were put through a multiple choice test that resulted in “false” electric shock for every wrong answer during each experiment. The more incorrect answers given by the learner, the higher the experimenter requested teacher to extend the voltage. Despite the deceived subjects, the learner still maintained the injured status when answering a question incorrectly. This experiment did not define the accuracy that was assumed; however, the findings were that humans and the “teachers” in the experiment are accustomed to submitting to impersonal authority figures whose status is indicated by a professional
The experiment was also rigged, so that no actual harm was performed on either of them but only believed by the participant. The participant always met- what seemed like an equal in the waiting room. This other “participant” was actually an actor for the experiment and always served as the learner in the experiment. The actual purpose of the experiment was to see if the teacher (the participant) would in fact listen to the authority of the experimenter and perform the tasks that were ordered. The idea of this experiment came from Milgram’s need to better understand the involvement of the Germans and their annihilation of six million Jews along with millions of other people during World War II. The learner or associate were put through a multiple choice test that resulted in “false” electric shock for every wrong answer during each experiment. The more incorrect answers given by the learner, the higher the experimenter requested teacher to extend the voltage. Despite the deceived subjects, the learner still maintained the injured status when answering a question incorrectly. This experiment did not define the accuracy that was assumed; however, the findings were that humans and the “teachers” in the experiment are accustomed to submitting to impersonal authority figures whose status is indicated by a professional