''Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View'' is a 1974 book by
social psychologist
Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the re ...
Stanley Milgram
Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist, best known for his controversial experiments on obedience conducted in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale.Blass, T. (2004). ''The Man Who Shocke ...
concerning a series of experiments on obedience to authority figures he conducted in the early 1960s. This book provides an in-depth look into his methods, theories and conclusions.
Background
Between 1961 and 1965, Milgram carried out a series of experiments at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in which human subjects were instructed to administer what they thought were progressively more painful electric shocks to another human being to determine to what extent people would obey orders even when they knew them to be painful and immoral. The experiments came under
heavy criticism at the time but were ultimately vindicated by the scientific community.
Milgram's experiments on obedience to authority are considered among the most important psychological studies of this century. Perhaps because of the enduring significance of the findings—the surprising ease with which ordinary persons can be commanded to act destructively against an innocent individual by a legitimate authority—it continues to claim the attention of psychologists and other
social scientists
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...
, as well as the general public.
In 1963, Milgram published ''The
Behavioral Study of Obedience''
in the ''
Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
The ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology'' (formerly ''Journal of Abnormal Psychology and Social Psychology'' and ''Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association (A ...
'', which included a detailed record of the controversial electric shock experiment. There were two stunning findings. The first was the extraordinary strength of the obedience and the second was the tension such experiment brought to participants.
Nevertheless, all participants reached an electric shock of 300 or more.
Contents
#The Dilemma of Obedience
#Methodology of Inquiry
#Expected Behavior
#Closeness of the Victim
#Individuals Confront Authority
#Further Variations and Control
#Individuals Confront Authority II
#Role Permutations
#Group Effects
#Why Obedience?—An Analysis
#The Process of Obedience: Applying the Analysis to the Experiment
#Strain and Disobedience
#An Alternative Theory: Is Aggression the Key?
#Problems of Method
#Epilogue
#*Appendix I: Problems of Ethics in Research
#*Appendix II: Patterns Among Individuals
Editions
# Milgram, S. (1974), ''Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View'', London: Tavistock Publications.
# Milgram, S. (2005), ''Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View'', Pinter & Martin Ltd.; New edition, paperback: 240 pages
# Milgram, S. (2009), ''Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View'', Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition, paperback: 256 pages
References
{{Reflist
1974 non-fiction books
Moral psychology books