Obey at Any Cost Milgram,S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience Essay

Obey at Any Cost Milgram,S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67,371-378 - Essay Example This idea sprung from his curiosity of how soldiers committed vicious atrocities during World War II, and in general, the inhumanity displayed by people as a result of obeying orders from ruthless leaders in the course of history. Milgram wanted to test out his theory that humans tend to obey those in a position or power or authority over them even if obeying will mean going against their principles, codes of moral and ethical behavior. The experiment focused on subjects who were put in the role of a â€Å"teacher† who would inflict the punishment of electric shock to another â€Å"subject† (an acting accomplice of the experimenter) given the role of a student whenever he gave a wrong answer to a memory drill. The voltage of the shock increases the more errors are committed by the â€Å"student†. An â€Å"experimenter† conducting the study was actually a confederate of Milgram, egged on the subject to continue with the task at hand no matter how the â€Å"student/ learner† subject reacted. The whole scenario that was played was just simulated without the knowledge of the actual subject. Unaware that everything and everyone around him is not real, he and his emotions and behavior are the only ones that are. Surprisingly, out of the 40 subjects, 65% followed the experimenter’s orders all the way to the top of the shock scale. Most of them exhibited manifestations of extreme stress in doing so, sincerely uncomfortable doing the task while witnessing the suffering of the student subject. To ease them of their anxiety, the subjects were â€Å"debriefed† after the experiment. The purpose of the experiment was revealed to them along with unmasking the accomplices and confederates to introduce themselves. The subjects were interviewed regarding the feelings they went through. Milgram explains why the subjects continued to obey the experimenter even if they knew that they were responsible for hurting a fellow human being.