The Power of the Situation
- Over the years social psychologists have demonstrated that situations can have enormous influence over the behavior of individuals in ways that surprise most people.
- One of the most famous (and controversial) classic studies in social psychology illustrates this point -- Stanley Milgram's obedience studies.
- This study is examined in more detail in chapter 7 of the textbook. Here is a quick summary:
- Milgram enlisted normal volunteer subjects to participate in what they believed to be a learning study. Subjects were assigned the role of "teacher" and were instructed to present word pairs to a "learner" who was unseen in a separate booth, but whose voice could be heard. When the "learner" made an incorrect response, the "teacher" was to deliver an electric shock to the "learner." The level of shock increased for every wrong response, up to a level that would be considered fatal.
- How far would the subjects go? Would they deliver painful or even possibly fatal elder shocks to a stranger simply because an authority figure instructed them to do so? Before he did the study, Milgram asked a panel of psychologists to predict the results. All of the psychologists predicted that very few people would deliver the shocks and only sadists would go all the way. (Again, the tendency to emphasize personality).
- Contrary to these predictions, he found that every subject delivered shocks up to the point that the "learner" screamed in pain, and that 65% of the subjects went all the way to the highest levels of shock. All subjects were nervous and protested to the experimenter that they did not want to hurt the "learner," but when the experimenter insisted, most subjects continued to deliver the shocks.
- Please be sure to understand that the study was "faked" in the sense that there was no real "learner," just a prerecorded voice coming from the booth, so no one was actually hurt. The subjects ("teachers") did not suspect the deception, however, and did believe that they were really giving shocks to a stranger. Also note that tests showed that all subjects were normal -- there were no mentally disturbed people among the "teachers."
- Milgram's study, now considered to be unethical, stands as a startling and powerful demonstration of how susceptible people are to situational pressure -- that normal people can be turned into potential killers if the situation is set up correctly.
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