In this section Milgram's theory was that Americans were less obedient than the Germans. The theme that was running through this section was that we follow orders from an authoritative figure regardless of weather we want to do it or not. When I read that I couldn't help but laugh because it is true, I find myself doing this assignment even though I am extremely tired. I would very much prefer to sleep and watch some Netflix (helps me knock out faster). Anyways Milgram even asked a group of 100 to make a prediction as to when the subjects would "break". To his surprise he got extremely different results 65% went all the way through with the highest voltage, the conclusion to this was that as long as you're being told to keep going by an authoritative figure that seemed legit you would continue. The other alarming thing that he came across was that the location of the experiment matter the subjects at 65% conducted the experiment at Yale University they had a much higher obedience percentage than the experiment done at Bridgeport coming in at 45% for obedience.
This chapter made me realize that although I would like to believe that I wouldn’t shock the individual on the other side of the room, I would most likely go through with it. What really hit me was when I read, “The man in the electric chair is helpless, strapped in. But the naïve subject is free to go.” Shows to me that we become and are incapable of making our own decisions, probably why we have norms. Formal and informal norms.
No comments:
Post a Comment