Psychology attempts to explain human behaviour and one of the most disturbing human behaviours is violence, especially among young people. During the 1960s, two of the most influential studies on this matter were Milgram’s research on obedience in authority and Bandura et al. on children’s aggression and the effects of media violence on children. Firstly, this essay will compare these two studies and their findings and secondly, it will outline the similarities and the types of research methods used. Lastly, it will outline both studies differences and findings. It will attempt to summarise the key points and provide a short summary of why people do harm to others.
Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) was born to a working-class Jewish family who had emigrated from Europe to the USA. His work was influenced by the horrors of the Second World War. The main purpose of his study was to create a situation to see to what extent the subject of interest would obey the authority and at what point they would stop. His work was certainly one of the most substantial in Social Psychology (Banyard, P. , 2012, p. 92).
Another famous experiment was conducted by Albert Bandura and his colleagues in the 1960s the ‘bobo doll experiment’. The study began in 1963, where he and his colleagues examined the children’s behaviour after observing a model performing aggressive acts live and on film. The study also aimed to look into the impact of media and violence on children. The two studies used different methods in conducting their research but had a common goal; to understand human behaviour and why people might do harm to others.
One of the few similarities between the two studies is that they performed a scientific study in controlled conditions with few different variations - situations where the original version is slightly changed. Milgram’s study was conducted at the Psychology Department of the reputable American University Yale. The original set-up involved 3 participants: the experimenter, the learner and the teacher - the subject of interest. Using controlled experimental conditions allowed Milgram to see the impact of each variation to the level of obedience of the participant.
In the same way, Bandura et al. ’s experiment was carried out at Stanford University. The researchers created four conditions: one in which the participants were exposed to a model performing an aggressive act. In another condition, the participants watched a short video of a model forcefully hitting the bobo doll. In the other two conditions the children were left on their own to see if they would mimic the behaviour they had just observed on the model. This allowed Bandura to observe behaviours that backed the main purpose of the study.
Another similarity across the two studies was that they used large samples for the experiment. Milgram had forty participants in his original study in 1961 and had processed 800 people with 19 different variations on the original design upon completion of his study in 1962 (Banyard, P. , 2012, p. 75). While Bandura et al. had a total of ninety-six children (with an equal number of boys and girls between 3-6 years) most of which attended the university nursery school (Oates, J. , 2012, p. 110). Both studies showed similar patterns in their research but there are also some noticeable differences such as issues regarding ethics and age of participants.
Ethics refers to the principles that govern the conduct of right and wrong, Oates, J. (2012) cited in (Brace, N. and Byford, J. , 2012, p. 77). Milgram’s study sparked some ethical questions due to the nature of the experiments. One of his many critics was his fellow psychologist Diana Baumrind. She and many others raised their concerns regarding the participants well-being. They pointed out that the experiment could have been stopped when the teacher started feeling anxious upon giving electric shocks to the learner. Moreover, Milgram used deception in his experiment, his defense was that it was important to see how long a normal person would continue to obey the authority figure. Bandura et al. study on children’s behaviour raised some questions regarding the children’s welfare but it didn’t have any ethics reviews because the children involved were attending the university nursery and consent of the parents had likely been obtained.
The findings of both studies were impressive and have been hugely influential in Social Psychology. Milgram found that some people would carry on giving harmful to deadly shocks to another human-being as a result of an order given by an authority figure. Twenty-six out of forty participants continued to administer shocks up to 450 volts (Barnyard, P. , 2012, p. 75). He then introduced the heart attack dialogue in one variation to see if that would make a difference to their obedience. However, this didn’t stop the more obedient from continuing all the way (Barnyard, P. , 2012, p. 75). He also explored the different variations such as the distance of the experimenter from the teacher as well as the presence of two authority figures. However, his findings were essentially the same, the clear presence of authority was significant.
Bandura et al. found that 80% of the children modelled the aggressive behaviour (The Open University, 2019). It was observed that boys displayed higher aggression scores than girls in all conditions. The gender of the model had a significant impact on the levels of aggression exhibited by the children, especially the boys. Half of the children saw a male model and the other half saw a female. This variable manipulation was needed to compare the levels of aggression they exhibited. Bandura et al. was one of the first experimental studies on media violence effects on behaviour cited in Oates, J. (2012, p. 120). There are games, images and films that displays extremely intense emotions that can be portrayed by children and adults in the real world. Since Bandura’s experiment, there have been many similar research studies which have attempted to explain aggressive behaviour in children as a result of media violence, many of which have supported his original findings (Calvert and Wilson, 2008) cited in Banyard, P. , (2012, p. 123).
This essay has examined Bandura et al. and Milgram’s studies on understanding human aggressive behaviour. It began by providing a brief description of the methods used in the researchers experiments. Then, it attempted to outline the similarities and the differences. Lastly, it has concluded that both studies had been successful in demonstrating the complexity of human behaviour. The findings in both studies show that human beings, regardless of age, have the potential to exhibit aggressive behaviour when influenced by an authority or situations in the wider social world.
Words: 1099
Psychology
attempts to
explain
human
behaviour
and one of the most disturbing
human
behaviours
is
violence
,
especially
among young
people
. During the 1960s, two of the most influential
studies
on this matter were
Milgram
’s
research
on obedience in
authority
and
Bandura
et al. on
children’s
aggression
and the effects of
media
violence
on
children
.
Firstly
, this essay will compare these two
studies
and their
findings
and
secondly
, it will outline the
similarities
and the types of
research
methods
used
.
Lastly
, it will outline both
studies
differences
and
findings
. It will attempt to
summarise
the key points and provide a short summary of why
people
do harm to others.
Stanley
Milgram
(1933-1984)
was born
to a working-
class
Jewish family who had emigrated from Europe to the USA. His work
was influenced
by the horrors of the Second World War. The main purpose of his
study
was to create a situation to
see
to what extent the subject of interest would obey the
authority
and at what point they would
stop
. His work was
certainly
one of the most substantial in Social
Psychology
(
Banyard
, P.
,
2012, p. 92).
Another
famous
experiment
was conducted
by Albert
Bandura
and his colleagues in the 1960s the ‘
bobo
doll
experiment’
. The
study
began in 1963, where he and his colleagues examined the
children’s
behaviour
after observing a
model
performing
aggressive
acts
live
and on film. The
study
also
aimed to look into the impact of
media
and
violence
on
children
.
The
two
studies
used
different
methods in conducting their
research
but
had a common goal; to understand
human
behaviour
and why
people
might do harm to others.
One of the few
similarities
between the two
studies
is that they performed a scientific
study
in controlled conditions with few
different
variations
-
situations where the
original
version is
slightly
changed
.
Milgram
’s
study
was conducted
at the
Psychology
Department of the reputable American
University
Yale. The
original
set-up involved 3
participants
: the experimenter, the learner and the teacher
-
the subject of interest. Using controlled experimental conditions
allowed
Milgram
to
see
the impact of each
variation
to the level of obedience of the participant.
In the same way
,
Bandura
et al. ’s
experiment
was carried
out at Stanford
University
. The researchers created four conditions: one in which the
participants
were exposed
to a
model
performing an
aggressive
act. In another
condition
, the
participants
watched
a short video of a
model
forcefully
hitting the
bobo
doll. In the other two conditions the
children
were
left
on their
own
to
see
if they would mimic the
behaviour
they had
just
observed on the
model
. This
allowed
Bandura
to observe
behaviours
that backed the main purpose of the study.
Another
similarity
across the two
studies
was that they
used
large samples for the
experiment
.
Milgram
had forty
participants
in his
original
study
in 1961 and had processed 800
people
with 19
different
variations
on the
original
design upon completion of his
study
in 1962 (
Banyard
, P.
,
2012, p. 75). While
Bandura
et al. had a total of ninety-six
children
(with an equal number of boys and girls between 3-6 years) most of which attended the
university
nursery school (Oates, J.
,
2012, p. 110). Both
studies
showed
similar patterns in their
research
but
there are
also
some
noticeable
differences
such as issues regarding ethics and age of participants.
Ethics refers to the principles that govern the conduct of right and
wrong
, Oates, J. (2012) cited in (Brace, N. and
Byford
, J.
,
2012, p. 77).
Milgram
’s
study
sparked
some
ethical questions due to the nature of the
experiments
. One of his
many
critics was his fellow psychologist Diana
Baumrind
. She and
many
others raised their concerns regarding the
participants
well-being. They pointed out that the
experiment
could have been
stopped
when the teacher
started
feeling anxious upon giving electric shocks to the learner.
Moreover
,
Milgram
used
deception in his
experiment
, his defense was that it was
important
to
see
how long a normal person would continue to obey the
authority
figure.
Bandura
et al.
study
on
children’s
behaviour
raised
some
questions regarding the
children’s
welfare
but
it didn’t have any ethics reviews
because
the
children
involved were attending the
university
nursery and consent of the parents had likely
been obtained
.
The
findings
of both
studies
were impressive and have been
hugely
influential in Social
Psychology
.
Milgram
found that
some
people
would carry on giving harmful to deadly shocks to another human-being
as a result
of an order
given
by an
authority
figure. Twenty-six out of forty
participants
continued to administer shocks up to 450 volts (Barnyard, P.
,
2012, p. 75). He then introduced the heart attack dialogue in one
variation
to
see
if that would
make
a
difference
to their obedience.
However
, this didn’t
stop
the more obedient from continuing all the way (Barnyard, P.
,
2012, p. 75). He
also
explored the
different
variations
such as the distance of the experimenter from the teacher
as well
as the presence of two
authority
figures.
However
, his
findings
were
essentially
the same, the
clear
presence of
authority
was significant.
Bandura
et al. found that 80% of the
children
modelled the
aggressive
behaviour
(The Open
University
, 2019). It
was observed
that boys displayed higher
aggression
scores than girls in all conditions. The gender of the
model
had a significant impact on the levels of
aggression
exhibited by the
children
,
especially
the boys. Half of the
children
saw
a male
model
and the other half
saw
a female. This variable manipulation
was needed
to compare the levels of
aggression
they exhibited.
Bandura
et al. was one of the
first
experimental
studies
on
media
violence
effects on
behaviour
cited in Oates, J. (2012, p. 120). There are games, images and films that displays
extremely
intense emotions that can
be portrayed
by
children
and adults in the real world. Since
Bandura
’s
experiment
, there have been
many
similar
research
studies
which have attempted to
explain
aggressive
behaviour
in
children
as a result
of
media
violence
,
many
of which have supported his
original
findings
(Calvert and Wilson, 2008) cited in
Banyard
, P.
,
(2012, p. 123).
This essay has examined
Bandura
et al. and
Milgram
’s
studies
on understanding
human
aggressive
behaviour
. It began by providing a brief description of the methods
used
in the researchers
experiments
. Then, it attempted to outline the
similarities
and the
differences
.
Lastly
, it has concluded that both
studies
had been successful in demonstrating the complexity of
human
behaviour
. The
findings
in both
studies
show
that
human
beings, regardless of age, have the potential to exhibit
aggressive
behaviour
when influenced by an
authority
or situations in the wider social world.
Words: 1099