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    The document summarizes and discusses the Stanley Milgram obedience to authority study and the Stanford prison experiment. It notes that both studies showed that everyday people may act in unimaginable ways when put into certain situations or under the direction of an authority figure. While the studies provided interesting insights, the document argues they were also unethical and caused mental distress in some participants. In conclusion, the document states that the studies demonstrated that people may act more similarly than differently when placed in comparable situations, though the tests will likely not be repeated due to ethical concerns.

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    Reaction Paper for Psy Class

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    The document summarizes and discusses the Stanley Milgram obedience to authority study and the Stanford prison experiment. It notes that both studies showed that everyday people may act in unimaginable ways when put into certain situations or under the direction of an authority figure. While the studies provided interesting insights, the document argues they were also unethical and caused mental distress in some participants. In conclusion, the document states that the studies demonstrated that people may act more similarly than differently when placed in comparable situations, though the tests will likely not be repeated due to ethical concerns.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    3K views2 pages

    Reaction Paper

    Uploaded by

    api-3701307
    The document summarizes and discusses the Stanley Milgram obedience to authority study and the Stanford prison experiment. It notes that both studies showed that everyday people may act in unimaginable ways when put into certain situations or under the direction of an authority figure. While the studies provided interesting insights, the document argues they were also unethical and caused mental distress in some participants. In conclusion, the document states that the studies demonstrated that people may act more similarly than differently when placed in comparable situations, though the tests will likely not be repeated due to ethical concerns.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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    Alex Dinkelmeyer

    9/9/08

    Reaction Paper

    Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority study and the Stanford Prison

    Experiment both show that everyday people react in ways we find unimaginable when

    put in certain situations. The Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority study tested

    how people would respond to an authority figure who told them to do something that

    conflicted with their personal beliefs. The Stanford Prison Experiment studied the

    effects of being a prison guard or prisoner. While both studies may be very unethical

    today, I believe they both show that everyone is likely to act, possibly, in an unethical

    manner depending on the situation.

    These studies, in current society’s views, would be extremely unethical; especially

    the Prison Experiment. While not forcibly controlling the participants’ actions or

    thoughts, the administrators of the studies still caused them much mental distress

    because of the situations they were placed in. I don’t believe that the information gained

    was worth the amount of suffering some of these people went through. Yes, knowing

    that everyone would act in the same manner put into certain situations is interesting to

    know but where does that get us? Do we just allow people to commit murder because we

    would most likely do the same thing if we were in their shoes? Maybe we can empathize

    more with people because of the information gained. However, I don’t see it as being

    worth the damage it did to others’ lives.

    The results of the studies I find to be interesting. Many people believe they are

    different than everyone else. We are even raised that way so we don’t feel bad about all

    of our physical and occasional mental differences; even to the extent that people start to

    deny that they would act in a way they find unethical when put in the same or similar
    Alex Dinkelmeyer
    9/9/08

    situation as another person who acted in an unethical manner. These studies showed

    that people act in a possible set manner, no matter who they are. Now this doesn’t prove

    that EVERYONE would act in a set way, just a majority. There will be those very few

    people who would never go against what they feel is right or wrong; but a majority, no

    matter what they think, would. In example, if the leader of a group decides to do

    something the other people in the group tend to follow, no matter what the decision may

    be. So, all it takes is one person in a position of power to change the mindset of the

    group. When this happens it becomes even harder to resist doing something unethical

    because everyone else is doing it so the thought might be ‘It can’t be that bad right?’

    That is for you to decide, not me. I can’t tell you what is right and what is wrong. It’s all a

    matter of opinion.

    In conclusion, I feel that Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority study and the

    Stanford Prison Experiment, while being unethical, both showed that people are not

    necessarily as different as we are brought up to believe. In fact, people are quite similar.

    I don’t believe that these tests will be conducted again now or in the near future because

    of the distress it can cause people, so we have to hope the studies weren’t just a matter of

    chance.

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