What was the Milgram experiment?
The Milgram experiment was a series of studies begun in 1961 by Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram to test whether ordinary people would harm someone simply because an authority figure told them to. It coincided with the trial of Nazi official Adolf Eichmann and asked how universal the defense "I was just following orders" might be.
- Researcher
- Stanley Milgram (Yale University)
- When
- 1961–1962; first paper 1963
- Key result
- 26 of 40 (65%) obeyed to the maximum shock
- Topic
- Obedience to authority
How the experiment worked
- Participants were told it was a study of learning and punishment and assigned the role of teacher.
- A learner in the next room (actually an actor) received a "shock" for each wrong answer on a word task.
- Shocks rose in 15-volt steps from 15 to 450 volts. No real shocks were delivered.
- The learner protested, pounded on the wall and finally fell silent, while the experimenter in a lab coat said, "Please continue."
The result: 65% went all the way
Before the study, psychiatrists predicted almost no one would go to the end. In fact, 26 of the 40 participants in the first study, 65%, pressed the switch all the way to 450 volts. Many sweated, trembled and protested, yet kept going.
Milgram argued that people in a hierarchy come to see themselves as agents carrying out someone else’s wishes, shifting responsibility to the authority. He called this the agentic state.
Variations that changed obedience
| Condition | Obedience |
|---|---|
| Learner in the same room | Lower |
| Teacher had to press the learner’s hand onto a shock plate | Lower still |
| Experimenter gave orders by phone | Much lower |
| Two fellow "teachers" refused to continue | Much lower |
| Run in a run-down office instead of Yale | Somewhat lower |
Distance from the victim, the authority’s presence and peers who refuse all made a big difference. For group pressure more broadly, see the Asch conformity experiments.
Replications and ethical controversy
Burger (2009) ran a partial replication that stopped at 150 volts to protect participants and found rates of willingness to continue past that point similar to Milgram’s. Meanwhile, Milgram’s deception and the stress he caused participants made the work a starting point for modern research-ethics debates. Archival studies also note that some participants doubted the setup and that experimenters sometimes pushed beyond the scripted prods.
Why it still matters
The study is often cited in discussions of unlawful workplace orders and of accidents in steep hierarchies such as militaries and hospitals. Under US military law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice requires obeying only lawful orders, and "following orders" is not a defense for a manifestly unlawful one. The finding that one dissenting peer sharply reduced obedience shows why organizations need real channels for speaking up.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Milgram experiment?
- A 1960s study by Stanley Milgram testing whether ordinary people would deliver what they believed were painful shocks to another person on an authority’s instructions.
- What were the results of the Milgram experiment?
- In the first study, 65% of participants continued to the maximum 450 volts despite the learner’s protests. No real shocks were given.
- What reduces obedience?
- Obedience dropped when the victim was closer, when the authority was remote, and especially when fellow participants refused.
References
- Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378.
- Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. New York: Harper & Row.
- Burger, J. M. (2009). Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today? American Psychologist, 64(1), 1–11.