Stanley Milgram

Date of Birth: August 15, 1933

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Date of Death: December 20, 1984

Biography

Stanley Milgram was an American social psychologist, best known for his controversial and groundbreaking experiment on obedience conducted in the 1960s. Born to a Jewish family in New York, Milgram’s interest in psychology was piqued at an early age. He pursued his undergraduate degree in political science from Queens College and later earned his Ph.D. in social psychology from Harvard University, where he was mentored by Solomon Asch. Milgram is most famous for his “Milgram Experiment,” which aimed to measure the willingness of participants to obey authority figures when instructed to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. The study revealed that a significant proportion of participants were willing to administer what they believed were painful electric shocks to another person, under the influence of an authority figure. This experiment had profound implications for understanding obedience and authority, especially in the context of atrocities such as the Holocaust. Throughout his career, Milgram held academic positions at several prestigious institutions, including Yale University, Harvard University, and the City University of New York. His work extended beyond the obedience experiments to include studies on social networks, the small-world phenomenon (often summarized as “six degrees of separation”), and urban psychology. Milgram published several books and numerous articles, contributing significantly to the field of social psychology. His innovative and often controversial methods have left a lasting legacy and continue to influence contemporary psychological research.

5 Interesting Facts about Stanley Milgram

1. Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments were partly inspired by the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a key figure in the Holocaust.

2. His small-world experiment, which led to the concept of “six degrees of separation,” highlighted the interconnectedness of social networks.

3. Milgram’s work on urban psychology explored how city living affected social behavior and stress levels.

4. Despite the ethical controversies surrounding his experiments, Milgram was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Socio-Psychological Prize in 1964.

5. Milgram’s studies have been cited in various fields including psychology, sociology, and even network theory and computer science.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Stanley Milgram

1. “The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.”

2. “It may be that we are puppets—puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness.”

3. “Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.”

4. “I started with the belief that a person’s character determines how he obeys authority. But I concluded that the social situation is more important.”

5. “The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Stanley Milgram’s highest net worth during his lifetime is not well-documented, but as an academic and researcher, his wealth would have been modest compared to today’s standards for celebrities and business moguls.