Milgram's (1963, 1965a, 1965b) incremental shock procedure for quantifying obedience may be partly responsible for the high levels of obedience obtained. The innocuous beginning of the shock sequence (low voltage, no negative feedback) may elicit compliance before the frightening implications of the procedure are clear, and the gradual escalation in shock intensity may deprive subjects of a qualitative breakpoint needed to justify changing from obedience to disobedience. Parallels between the incremental shock and the `foot-in-the-door" (Freedman & Fraser, 1966) techniques for obtaining compliance are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aronson, E.The social animal. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1980.
2.
Freedman, J. L. , & Fraser, C. C.Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology1966, 4, 195-202.
3.
Freedman, J. L. , Sears, D. O., & Carlsmith, J. M. Social psychology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981.
4.
Gergen, K. J. , & Gergen, M. M.Social psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981;
5.
Goldfried, M. R. , & Davison, G. C.Clinical behavior therapy. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1976.
6.
Haley, J.Strategies of psychotherapy. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1963.
7.
Milgram, S.Behavioral study of obedience . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1963, 67, 371-378.
8.
Milgram, S.Liberating effects of group pressure . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1965, 1, 127-134. (a)
9.
Milgram, S.Some conditions of obedience and disobedience to authority . Human Relations, 1965, 18, 57-75. (b)
10.
Milgram, S.Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.
11.
Mixon, D.Instead of deception . Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 1972,2, 145-177.
12.
Osherow, N.Making sense of the nonsensical: An analysis of Jonestown. In E. Aronson (Ed.), Readings about the social animal. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1981.
13.
Seidenberg, B. , & Snadowsky, A.Social psychology. New York: The Free Press, 1976.
14.
Shaver, K. G.Principles of social psychology. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop, 1981.
15.
Varela, J. A.Psychological solutions to social problems: An introduction to social technology. New York: Academic, 1971.
16.
Wolpe, J. , & Lazarus, A. A.Behavior therapy techniques. New York: Pergamon, 1968.
