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Meta-Milgram: An Empirical Synthesis of the Obedience Experiments

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  • Nick Haslam
  • Steve Loughnan
  • Gina Perry

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Nick Haslam & Steve Loughnan & Gina Perry, 2014. "Meta-Milgram: An Empirical Synthesis of the Obedience Experiments," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(4), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0093927
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093927
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    Cited by:

    1. Shahidul Hassan & Sheela Pandey & Sanjay K. Pandey, 2021. "Should Managers Provide General or Specific Ethical Guidelines to Employees: Insights from a Mixed Methods Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 563-580, September.

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