Question

The Milgram StudyPrepare a convincing argument supporting each of these positions: The Milgram study should have been conducted because it provided vitally important information about the troubling human tendency to inflict pain and suffering on others in obedience to authority figures. Despite the value of the knowledge that the Milgram study provided, it should never have been conducted because it subjected research participants to tremendous stress.

Answer 1

I support the Milgram study, despite the several ethical issues that it raised. The study was conducted with a larger aim so as an attempt to understand the Nazi Holocaust, a phenomenon that lead hundreds of thousands of individuals to carry out mass extermination of innocent lives in obedience to authority figures. This study was a landmark in social psychology, as it revealed how social forces can impact our choices and decisions, that were erstwhile attributed to individual differences. The participants did experience tremendous amount of stress however I feel that the stress that they experienced was temporary as it occurred during a single setting of an experiment only.