Reference Information
Title: Obedience to Authority
Author: Stanley Milgram
Publisher: 2009 Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Chapter 1: The Dilemma of Obedience
Summary
This chapter discussed the term obedience and the system of authority, where obedience is defined as the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose. The shock experiment is described, along with factors that bind people to authority.
Discussion
This chapter provided a good introduction to the topic, although the description of the shock experiment was already known to me due to Opening Skinner's Box. I like that the term obedience was defined.
Chapter 2: Method of Inquiry
Summary
This chapter discussed the methods of the shock experiment. To achieve simplicity for studying obedience, he described the need to have a situation where one person orders another person to perform an action and to note when obedience occurs or doesn't occur. The method of obtaining participants was described, including the need to not use undergraduates due to the possibility of leaking information. The methods of obtaining personel and a location were discussed, along with the actual procedure and evaluation methods, in detail.
Discussion
I find it interesting that Milgrim so carefully thought out each aspect of this experiment, including each part of the procedure, the personalities of those playing along in the experiment, and how to let the participant know what had actually happened. I especially like that undergrads weren't used just for their convenience, but that others were sought out due to the experiment's needs.
Chapter 3: Expected Behavior
Summary
This chapter discussed the need for a prior hypothesis in order to have a baseline of what people expect the results of the experiment to be. An audience was told of the experiment, then asked to make predictions about the results and to describe how both they, and others, would act in such a situation. They explained that most people would not continue shocking very far, since their reactions were from sources of empathy and justice, as opposed to insight into the situation itself.
Discussion
I thought it was very interesting that they thought to receive feedback on what others thought the results would be, instead of just using the researchers' opinions for the baseline hypothesis. I believe that this would lead to much more reliable predictions, or at least a better impression of what society believes would occur in such a situation.
Chapter 4: Closeness of the Victim
Summary
This chapter discussed variations of the closeness of the victim, and how that affected results of the experiment. This included voice feedback, proximity, and touch-proximity. As the victim was brought closer, obedience decreased. Still, the results differed from those that were expected, including the level of tension created by the experiment.
Discussion
I think it's rather strange that the experimenters had not predicted a high level of tension that would result from this experiment. They were tricking people into thinking they were shocking someone to death by order of someone with a higher authority, of course there would be tension!
Chapter 5: Individuals Confront Authority
Summary
This chapter focused on the individuals who took part in the study, since each person's experience was unique to them. Because of this, the researchers relied heavily on participants' own comments and assertions about the experiment to determine behavior. Specific individuals and there reactions were discussed.
Discussion
I found it rather disturbing that one of the participants started laughing uncontrollably as he followed orders and shocked the victim. But in general, I liked getting to read about the way different people experienced the experiment. It made it more personal and more about the reactions than just reading general, numerical results.
Chapter 6: Further Variations and Controls
Summary
This chapter discussed further variations that were used for experiments, including moving the location of the experiment, giving a heart condition to the victim, changing personnel, altering the closeness of the authority, observing women as subjects, limiting contact of the victim, and allowing the subject to choose the level of shock.
Discussion
The fact that they conducted a separate experiment just to observe the reactions of women was interesting, especially since there was not much of a difference in results. In particular, I found it interesting that the proximity of the authority figure seemed to alter the results the most.
Chapter 7: Individuals Confront Authority II
Summary
This chapter discussed the experiences and results of individuals for the second set of experiments. Most of the individuals were women, and the results were once again very different and pertained to personal thoughts and experiences related to the experiment.
Discussion
Once again, I liked getting to read about individual experiences. I find it interesting that every person has their own justification about why they did what they did, and that most of them seem to make sense.
Chapter 8: Role Permutations
Summary
This chapter discussed the elements of position, status, and action, and how varying each leads to different results. More experiment variations were discussed, these involving changes in the roles of the people taking part in the experiment. These included the learner demanding to be shocked, an ordinary person giving orders, the subject as a bystander, the authority as a victim, contradictory authorities, and one authority as a victim with another leading the experiment.
Discussion
I found the level of acting and manipulating necessary to achieve some of these experiments rather astounding, and I wonder how that itself may have affected the results. However, I also found it interesting that the authority seemed to be the dominating factor in behavior, and that with multiple authorities, the subject would listen to the one that seemed to have the most power.
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