Meta-Milgram: An Empirical Synthesis of the Obedience Experiments

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 4; p. e93927
• Main Authors: Haslam, Nick, Loughnan, Steve, Perry, Gina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.04.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavioral Research - ethics; Behavioral Research - methods; Biology and Life Sciences; Dominance-Subordination; Electroshock - psychology; Empirical analysis; Experiments; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Logistic Models; Logistic regression; Medicine and Health Sciences; Psychological Theory; Psychologists; Punishment - psychology; Regression analysis; Research Subjects - psychology; Social psychology; Social Sciences; Studies; Synthesis; Teachers; Textbooks; Writers
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093927

Milgram's famous experiment contained 23 small-sample conditions that elicited striking variations in obedient responding. A synthesis of these diverse conditions could clarify the factors that influence obedience in the Milgram paradigm. We assembled data from the 21 conditions (N = 740) in which obedience involved progression to maximum voltage (overall rate 43.6%) and coded these conditions on 14 properties pertaining to the learner, the teacher, the experimenter, the learner-teacher relation, the experimenter-teacher relation, and the experimental setting. Logistic regression analysis indicated that eight factors influenced the likelihood that teachers continued to the 450 volt shock: the experimenter's directiveness, legitimacy, and consistency; group pressure on the teacher to disobey; the indirectness, proximity, and intimacy of the relation between teacher and learner; and the distance between the teacher and the experimenter. Implications are discussed.