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The Milgram experiment was controversial because it revealed people’s willingness to obey authority figures even when causing harm to others, raising ethical concerns about the psychological distress inflicted upon participants and the deception involved in the study.
Ethical Issues in the Milgram Experiment Just two years before Milgram began his experiments, the American Psychological Association (APA) updated its code of ethics, which included the expectation that researchers would “respect the integrity and protect the welfare of the person or group with whom he is working” (APA, 1959, p. 280).
Ethical Concerns in the Milgram Experiment. Milgram's experiments have long been the source of considerable criticism and controversy. From the get-go, the ethics of his experiments were highly dubious. Participants were subjected to significant psychological and emotional distress.
Today, the Milgram experiment is widely criticized on both ethical and scientific grounds. However, Milgram's conclusions about humanity's willingness to obey authority figures remain influential and well-known.
In the early 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a controversial study in which participants were led to believe they were administering painful, high-voltage shocks to other subjects.
This analysis revises our perception of the classical interpretation of the experiment and its putative relevance to the explanation of state atrocities, such as the Holocaust. It also raises the issue of dramaturgical credibility in experiments based on deception.
The key ethical problems in the Milgram experiment are the unanticipated psy chological harms that resulted from their participation and the deception of subjects (Bankert et al 2009).
Because one of Milgram’s unreported experiments (the last one in the study, the relationship experiment) may be the most ethically questionable experiment that he conducted, I briefly summarize it here for teachers who may want to incorporate it into their class discussions of the ethical issues posed by Milgram’s study.
Although the shocks were faked, the experiments are widely considered unethical today due to the lack of proper disclosure, informed consent, and subsequent debriefing related to the deception and trauma experienced by the teachers. Some of Milgram’s conclusions have been called into question.
Stanley Milgram’s obedience to authority experiments: Towards an understanding of their relevance in explaining aspects of the Nazi Holocaust (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Wellington, Australia.