Methodology
Stanley Milgram claimed that “obedience is the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose”(Milgram, 1974). His proposal for the study was that obedience is so ingrained, that people tend to obey other people who are in positions of authority over them, even if they violate their own morals and ethics (Milgram, 1974).
In his original study, Milgram (1963) recruited 40 males between the ages of 20 and 50 through newspaper ads and mail solicitations. The experiment was held at Yale University, and the participants were told they were involved in a study regarding the relationship between punishment and learning. He then setup a “teacher” (true participant), a “learner” (accomplice), and an experimenter, who was played by a high school biology teacher.
The subjects drew slips of paper from a hat to determine who would be the teacher or learner, but the drawing was rigged so the true participant was always the teacher. The teacher and learner were then taken to another room, where the teacher observed the learner being strapped down to a chair that was connected to a large shock generator in the adjacent room. The learner was taken to an adjacent room with the very intimidating shock generator. The generator had 30 switches labeled with voltage levels, ranging from 15 to 450 volts. The switches were also labeled in groups with verbal designations such as slight shock, moderate shock, danger, and XXX (Milgram, 1963).
One after another, unknowing subjects playing the role of teacher were given memory tasks in the form of reading lists of two word pairs and asking the "learner" to read them back and were instructed to administer a shock by pressing a button each time the learner made a mistake. It was understood that the electric shocks were to be increased by 15 volts for each mistake the "learner" made during the experiment.
The shock generator that the "teacher" was told to operate had 30 switches in 15 volt increments, each switch was labeled with a voltage ranging from 15 up to 450 volts. Each switch also had a rating, ranging from "slight shock" to "danger: severe shock". The final two switches being labelled "XXX".
In his original study, Milgram (1963) recruited 40 males between the ages of 20 and 50 through newspaper ads and mail solicitations. The experiment was held at Yale University, and the participants were told they were involved in a study regarding the relationship between punishment and learning. He then setup a “teacher” (true participant), a “learner” (accomplice), and an experimenter, who was played by a high school biology teacher.
The subjects drew slips of paper from a hat to determine who would be the teacher or learner, but the drawing was rigged so the true participant was always the teacher. The teacher and learner were then taken to another room, where the teacher observed the learner being strapped down to a chair that was connected to a large shock generator in the adjacent room. The learner was taken to an adjacent room with the very intimidating shock generator. The generator had 30 switches labeled with voltage levels, ranging from 15 to 450 volts. The switches were also labeled in groups with verbal designations such as slight shock, moderate shock, danger, and XXX (Milgram, 1963).
One after another, unknowing subjects playing the role of teacher were given memory tasks in the form of reading lists of two word pairs and asking the "learner" to read them back and were instructed to administer a shock by pressing a button each time the learner made a mistake. It was understood that the electric shocks were to be increased by 15 volts for each mistake the "learner" made during the experiment.
The shock generator that the "teacher" was told to operate had 30 switches in 15 volt increments, each switch was labeled with a voltage ranging from 15 up to 450 volts. Each switch also had a rating, ranging from "slight shock" to "danger: severe shock". The final two switches being labelled "XXX".
Shock levels indicated during the Milgram Obedience Experiments
Shock Range Label Electric Shocks simulated
Slight Shock 15, 30, 45, 60 volts
Moderate Shock 75, 90, 105, 120 volts
Strong Shock 135, 150, 165, 180 volts
Very Strong Shock 195, 210, 225, 240 volts
Intense Shock 255, 270, 285, 300 volts
Extreme Intensity Shock 315, 330, 345, 360 volts
Danger: Severe Shock 375, 390, 405, 420 volts
XXX 435, 450 volts
Shock Range Label Electric Shocks simulated
Slight Shock 15, 30, 45, 60 volts
Moderate Shock 75, 90, 105, 120 volts
Strong Shock 135, 150, 165, 180 volts
Very Strong Shock 195, 210, 225, 240 volts
Intense Shock 255, 270, 285, 300 volts
Extreme Intensity Shock 315, 330, 345, 360 volts
Danger: Severe Shock 375, 390, 405, 420 volts
XXX 435, 450 volts