Conformity and Obedience

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Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann stood trial in 1961 for his part in the

execution of thousands of Jews in the Holocaust. His defence was that he

was 'only obeying orders'. This prompted Stanley Milgram a psychological

researcher at Yale University to conduct a laboratory experiment on

'Obedience to authority'. His hypothesis 'are Germans different'.

Milgram's obedience studies were:

"probably the most disturbing, most discussed, most critised

and most notorious in the history of psychology" (McGhee, 2001)

The experiment took place at the prestigious Yale University, forty

participants were selected from replies to a newspaper advertisement

offering $4 for an hours work to take part in an experiment on the effects of

'punishment and learning' they were also informed they were free to leave at

any time. The real reason for the experiment was kept from the participants

as this would have led to demand characteristics.

The experiment went ahead and in turn each participant was greeted by a

White coated researcher and another man Mr Wallace, unbeknown to the

participant Mr Wallace was a confederate. The experiment required