{"id":54392,"date":"2021-11-09T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T16:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=54392"},"modified":"2021-11-17T10:38:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T14:38:08","slug":"the-milgram-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-milgram-study\/","title":{"rendered":"The Milgram Study and the Dangers of Blind Obedience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the focus of the Milgram study? Why is the experiment so important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Milgram study was carried out by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram to explore the tendency of people to obey orders from authority figures even when they contradict their personal values. The experiment is important because it helps us understand why seemingly decent people will blindly follow flawed leaders to do bad things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn more about the discoveries of the Milgram study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Milgram Study<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Milgram <\/a>study showed the tendency of people to obey orders from authorities despite contradicting their personal values. The setup: the subject is assigned the role of a teacher; his role is to administer shocks to a learner when the learner makes mistakes. The voltage is increased with each mistake, ending at levels that would cause serious damage or death. (In reality, no shocks were given; pre-recorded messages of pain were played at different shock levels.) If the subject demurred from giving shocks, the experimenter would step through four statements in order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n