Question

Introduction

We are surrounded by people everyday but how does this affect our behavior? Would you obey someone who you thought was in a position of authority even though you really did not want to? Let’s see what one of the significant studies in Social Psychology found out about the influence of others on our behavior. Milgram’s classic study of obedience is quite interesting. As you read about the study and research your Discussion answer, think of other instances in your life (or in history) when people may have followed the crowd or gone against their beliefs. Would you?

Respond to the following questions:

1. What did the Milgram study teach us about obedience in today's world?

2. Does it matter if we believe in the "goodness" of the experimenter or not?

3. How does the knowledge about this type of obedience explain war, institutionalized prejudice, and the polarized behavior found in some groups? Now write an essay answering all the questions. The acceptable length of the essay is 500 words.

Can anyone help me to write down this essay? it's from General Psychology chapter-10.

Answer 1

The Milgram study is a classic yet intriguing study that had rather disturbing results.The participants of the study were informed that the study was intended to investigate the effects of punishment on learning.The participants were assigned as teachers who could punish the learners(research assistants)whenever they made an error through electric shocks.The teacher could provide shocks ranging from 15 volts to 450 volts.As the number of errors increased the teachers were told to increase the strength of the shock.The most disturbing fact was that even when the learner begged the teacher to stop or when the learner looked unconscious,the teachers kept increasing the shock because the experimenter ordered them to do so.The study revealed the strong impact commands had on people.Obedience was so high that people were ready to hurt strangers.The most horrifying and disturbing fact is that even when the study was replicated recently the results were the same.This actually shows how people in the society can be manipulated to commit anti social activities.Eventhough obedience is considered as a positive trait it can also escalate into something known as destructive obedience.

It does not matter much if we believe in the "goodness" of the experimenter as long as we donot feel personally responsible for our actions.According to the people obeying destructive orders they are just doing something because they have been told to do so and do not feel responsible for their actions at all.But destructive obedience can be reduced when people question the motive behind any order they receive.

Studying about the Milgram experiment can help us understand war, institutionalised prejudice etc.While we take into consideration any war that has been responsible for a lot of blood shed,it actually seems obvious that the soldiers in the army must have had no personal motive but rather did everything because they were ordered to do so.None of the soldiers in any war or people promoting prejudice in

an institutional setting might feel personally responsible for their actions and hence may not bother about the consequences of their actions.People may find it hard to resist orders from people who have visible signs of their authority (uniforms,badges).The most convenient way to reduce destructive obedience is to make each and every individual feel responsible for his/her actions and also by encouraging them to question the motives of the authoritative figure giving the orders.