Milgram's Obedience Study
The Milgram study was a monumental study in psychology history, shrouded in controversy and ethical concerns. It was inspired by the atrocities committed in World War II, when people could not believe how ordinary humans could inflict such torture on others. How could those people obey such a ruthless dictator like Hitler? In 1961, Stanley Milgram set out to find the answer.
The study had experimenters act as teachers, who would announce spelling words. When an actor (who was in on the experiment) "accidentally" spelled the word wrong, the teacher would tell the clueless participant to send a shock to the actor. Even though the shocks administered were fake, the participants did not know. When the participants did not want to go on with the study, an experimenter would "prod" them, telling them to go on. If the participant refused further, they would be deemed disobedient. After the experiment ended, the results were shocking: 65% of the participants gave the most lethal shock. Even the most pessimistic of researchers estimated only about 3% would go this far. This meant that people could be swayed by simple authority figures to do things previously unimaginable to them. The study also had another effect on psychology, namely, ethical standards. The tension between the subjects had also caused uncontrollable seizures, which were dangerous to the participant's health. As a result, the American Psychological Association increased the transparency of psychology experiments to ensure that no such events occurred again. This was a checkpoint in psychology, boosting the ethical standards of psychology experiments and bringing them to the more humane conditions we know today.
The Milgram study worked hard to eliminate any bias, such as the participants realizing the shock machines were fake or that the person getting shocked was just an actor. However, the participants had entered through a newspaper ad, which was a flaw in the project. Because the experimenter offered 4 dollars to participants, there was a chance that a specific group of people had accidentally been targeted, such as the unemployed. Although not verified, unemployed individuals may have been more susceptible to hurting others for their gain. This is much like the TV show "Squid Games", where players would kill others for their own gain, like 456 billion dollars. Here, players hurt others because they are forced to.
In conclusion, the Milgram study was a controversial study performed on many participants, many of whom were mentally distressed after the study. The Milgram study caused the Psychology ethical standards to be raised to prevent future distress coming from psychology studies. Nonetheless, it was a pivotal change in which we see humans now, and will never be forgotten in Psychology history.