Question

Why does Milgram discount the role of aggression as an explanation of obedience?

Chapter 14: Can obedience be studied in a psychological laboratory? Was this task "believable" for the subjects ("teachers") of the study?

Answer 1

Milgram was able to rule out the fact that the participants in the study demonstrated obedience and not aggression through the fact that when a participant was allowed to choose the shock level on each trial they typically remained at the lower end of the voltage scale. Overall, only in cases wherein they received instructions from authority figures did they use the highest voltage switch. In fact, Milgram found that the average highest shock level chosen by subjects was 5,5 volts whereas when subjects obeyed the experimenter, it was 24.55 volts. This demonstrates that aggression could not account for the behavior of the participants in the study.

Please post the other questions separately as we are supposed to answer just one question or four subparts of a question.