Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?

Krishanu Kumar Das

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?

Krishanu Kumar Das

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 1)

Received: 12 December 2019 Accepted: 4 January 2020 Published: 27 January 2020

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Abstract

This article has given efforts to analyze and interpret one of the most famous psychological experiments, conducted by Stanley Milgram, in the light of understanding of nature and characteristics of emotions. Milgram’s famous experiment is actually a series of experiments that started in the summer of 1961, at the Linsly-Chittenden hall of Yale University. This quintessential series of experiments revealed a very significant, yet shocking and unwelcome nature of the human psych. But there is no experimental proof that can explain the true reasons lying behind the results of this experiment. It has been inferred by different authors differently in the course of time. Milgram himself explained this as a fact of obedience in the lattice of the hierarchical social structure. Is it the singular factor? In this project, we will try to interpret it from another angle – that is basic nature and properties of individual emotions and their adaptive processes. We will see not only the matter of obedience, but a variety of factors – namely, magnitude of different emotions, previous adaptational states on different emotional scales, gradual adaptational processes, pressure of conformity to social and cultural norms, obligations coming from individual moral built, and finally genetical compositions of individual persons – all created a bidirectional force having its components acting in opposite directions. And the net product or sum of this bidirectional force ultimately expressed in a person’s action and behaviour that was observed in Milgram’s experiments.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
Page(s)	9-24
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Emotions, Empathy, Emotional Scales, Emotional Adaptation, Obedience, Milgram’s Experiment

References

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Krishanu Kumar Das. (2020). Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?. Social Sciences, 9(1), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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Krishanu Kumar Das. Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 9-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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Krishanu Kumar Das. Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?. Soc Sci. 2020;9(1):9-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12,
  author = {Krishanu Kumar Das},
  title = {Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {9},
  number = {1},
  pages = {9-24},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20200901.12},
  abstract = {This article has given efforts to analyze and interpret one of the most famous psychological experiments, conducted by Stanley Milgram, in the light of understanding of nature and characteristics of emotions. Milgram’s famous experiment is actually a series of experiments that started in the summer of 1961, at the Linsly-Chittenden hall of Yale University. This quintessential series of experiments revealed a very significant, yet shocking and unwelcome nature of the human psych. But there is no experimental proof that can explain the true reasons lying behind the results of this experiment. It has been inferred by different authors differently in the course of time. Milgram himself explained this as a fact of obedience in the lattice of the hierarchical social structure. Is it the singular factor? In this project, we will try to interpret it from another angle – that is basic nature and properties of individual emotions and their adaptive processes. We will see not only the matter of obedience, but a variety of factors – namely, magnitude of different emotions, previous adaptational states on different emotional scales, gradual adaptational processes, pressure of conformity to social and cultural norms, obligations coming from individual moral built, and finally genetical compositions of individual persons – all created a bidirectional force having its components acting in opposite directions. And the net product or sum of this bidirectional force ultimately expressed in a person’s action and behaviour that was observed in Milgram’s experiments.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?
AU  - Krishanu Kumar Das
Y1  - 2020/01/27
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 9
EP  - 24
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
AB  - This article has given efforts to analyze and interpret one of the most famous psychological experiments, conducted by Stanley Milgram, in the light of understanding of nature and characteristics of emotions. Milgram’s famous experiment is actually a series of experiments that started in the summer of 1961, at the Linsly-Chittenden hall of Yale University. This quintessential series of experiments revealed a very significant, yet shocking and unwelcome nature of the human psych. But there is no experimental proof that can explain the true reasons lying behind the results of this experiment. It has been inferred by different authors differently in the course of time. Milgram himself explained this as a fact of obedience in the lattice of the hierarchical social structure. Is it the singular factor? In this project, we will try to interpret it from another angle – that is basic nature and properties of individual emotions and their adaptive processes. We will see not only the matter of obedience, but a variety of factors – namely, magnitude of different emotions, previous adaptational states on different emotional scales, gradual adaptational processes, pressure of conformity to social and cultural norms, obligations coming from individual moral built, and finally genetical compositions of individual persons – all created a bidirectional force having its components acting in opposite directions. And the net product or sum of this bidirectional force ultimately expressed in a person’s action and behaviour that was observed in Milgram’s experiments.
VL  - 9
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Krishanu Kumar Das

Department of Medicine, HLG Memorial Hospital, Asansol, India

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APA Style

Krishanu Kumar Das. (2020). Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?. Social Sciences, 9(1), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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Krishanu Kumar Das. Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 9-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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AMA Style

Krishanu Kumar Das. Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?. Soc Sci. 2020;9(1):9-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12,
  author = {Krishanu Kumar Das},
  title = {Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {9},
  number = {1},
  pages = {9-24},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20200901.12},
  abstract = {This article has given efforts to analyze and interpret one of the most famous psychological experiments, conducted by Stanley Milgram, in the light of understanding of nature and characteristics of emotions. Milgram’s famous experiment is actually a series of experiments that started in the summer of 1961, at the Linsly-Chittenden hall of Yale University. This quintessential series of experiments revealed a very significant, yet shocking and unwelcome nature of the human psych. But there is no experimental proof that can explain the true reasons lying behind the results of this experiment. It has been inferred by different authors differently in the course of time. Milgram himself explained this as a fact of obedience in the lattice of the hierarchical social structure. Is it the singular factor? In this project, we will try to interpret it from another angle – that is basic nature and properties of individual emotions and their adaptive processes. We will see not only the matter of obedience, but a variety of factors – namely, magnitude of different emotions, previous adaptational states on different emotional scales, gradual adaptational processes, pressure of conformity to social and cultural norms, obligations coming from individual moral built, and finally genetical compositions of individual persons – all created a bidirectional force having its components acting in opposite directions. And the net product or sum of this bidirectional force ultimately expressed in a person’s action and behaviour that was observed in Milgram’s experiments.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Milgram’s Experiment: Obedience or Emotional Adaptation on Empathy Emotional Scale?
AU  - Krishanu Kumar Das
Y1  - 2020/01/27
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 9
EP  - 24
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200901.12
AB  - This article has given efforts to analyze and interpret one of the most famous psychological experiments, conducted by Stanley Milgram, in the light of understanding of nature and characteristics of emotions. Milgram’s famous experiment is actually a series of experiments that started in the summer of 1961, at the Linsly-Chittenden hall of Yale University. This quintessential series of experiments revealed a very significant, yet shocking and unwelcome nature of the human psych. But there is no experimental proof that can explain the true reasons lying behind the results of this experiment. It has been inferred by different authors differently in the course of time. Milgram himself explained this as a fact of obedience in the lattice of the hierarchical social structure. Is it the singular factor? In this project, we will try to interpret it from another angle – that is basic nature and properties of individual emotions and their adaptive processes. We will see not only the matter of obedience, but a variety of factors – namely, magnitude of different emotions, previous adaptational states on different emotional scales, gradual adaptational processes, pressure of conformity to social and cultural norms, obligations coming from individual moral built, and finally genetical compositions of individual persons – all created a bidirectional force having its components acting in opposite directions. And the net product or sum of this bidirectional force ultimately expressed in a person’s action and behaviour that was observed in Milgram’s experiments.
VL  - 9
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download