Grading Under Authority: An Ethical Approach to Milgram's Obedience Study
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Mentor/Supervising Professor Name
Garcia, Melissa
Abstract (Description of Research)
Obedience to authority remains central to psychological research, particularly in ethical decision-making. This study ethically replicates Milgram’s experiment in an academic context. Students are briefly trained and instructed by an authority figure to grade a fabricated student’s paper more harshly, enabling the analysis of compliance and resistance under authority. Behavior is analyzed across two conditions: when participants are given authoritative grading instructions and when they grade independently. Participants’ justifications and perceptions of authority and ethics are also examined. Findings may enhance understanding of authority’s impact on decision-making and obedience dynamics in education, while maintaining modern ethical standards in psychological research.
Grading Under Authority: An Ethical Approach to Milgram's Obedience Study
Obedience to authority remains central to psychological research, particularly in ethical decision-making. This study ethically replicates Milgram’s experiment in an academic context. Students are briefly trained and instructed by an authority figure to grade a fabricated student’s paper more harshly, enabling the analysis of compliance and resistance under authority. Behavior is analyzed across two conditions: when participants are given authoritative grading instructions and when they grade independently. Participants’ justifications and perceptions of authority and ethics are also examined. Findings may enhance understanding of authority’s impact on decision-making and obedience dynamics in education, while maintaining modern ethical standards in psychological research.