Stanley Milgram facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stanley Milgram
Born	(1933-08-15)August 15, 1933 The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Died	December 20, 1984(1984-12-20) (aged 51) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Education	Queens College, New York (B.A., Political Science, 1954) Harvard University (Ph.D., Social Psychology, 1960)
Known for	Milgram experiment Small-world experiment Familiar stranger
Title	Professor
Spouse(s)	Alexandra Menkin ​ (m. 1961)​
Children	2

Stanley Milgram (born August 15, 1933 – died December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist. He is famous for his experiments on obedience. These studies, done in the 1960s, looked at how people follow orders. Milgram was a professor at Yale when he did these important studies.

Milgram was very interested in the Holocaust. This terrible event, especially the trial of Adolf Eichmann, influenced his research. After getting his PhD from Harvard University, he taught at Yale and Harvard. He spent most of his career as a professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He worked there until he passed away in 1984.

His obedience experiment became well-known. It took place at Yale University in 1961. This was just three months after the trial of German Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann began. The experiment showed that many people would obey instructions, even if they felt uncomfortable. Milgram first wrote about his findings in 1963. He later explained them more in his 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.

Milgram also did the small-world experiment at Harvard. This study helped researchers understand how connected people are. It led to the idea of six degrees of separation. Later, he created a way to combine people's words with another person's body. These "cyranoids" helped explore how we see ourselves and others. Many people see Milgram as a very important person in the history of social psychology.

Early Life and Family

Stanley Milgram was born in 1933 in New York City. His parents, Adele and Samuel Milgram, were Jewish. They came to the United States from Romania and Hungary during World War I. Stanley was the second of three children.

His family was deeply affected by the Holocaust. After the war, some relatives who survived Nazi concentration camps stayed with his family. Milgram's interest in the Holocaust shaped his work. He felt a strong connection to the Jewish people.

Milgram married Alexandra in 1961. They had two children, Michele and Marc. At the time of his death, he lived in New Rochelle, New York.

His father was a baker. This provided a simple income for the family. Stanley went to public schools in the Bronx. He was a very good student and a leader. One of his high school classmates was Philip Zimbardo. Zimbardo later created the Stanford prison experiment.

Milgram went to Queens College for his bachelor's degree. He studied political science there. He then applied to Harvard for a PhD in social psychology. He was first turned down because he hadn't taken many psychology classes. But he was accepted in 1954 after taking more courses.

Becoming a Professor

In 1961, Milgram earned his PhD in social psychology from Harvard. He started as an assistant professor at Yale in 1960. From 1963 to 1966, he taught at Harvard.

However, he was not given a permanent teaching position at Harvard. This was likely because of his obedience experiment. It was quite controversial. In 1967, he became a full professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He taught there until he died in 1984.

Passing Away

Stanley Milgram died on December 20, 1984. He was 51 years old. He passed away from a heart attack in New York City. It was his fifth heart attack. He left behind his wife, Alexandra, and his two children, Michele and Marc.

The Obedience Experiment

Setup of the Milgram Experiment

In 1963, Milgram shared the results of his obedience studies. He wrote about them in an article. His work caused a lot of debate about research ethics. The American Psychological Association even delayed his membership for a year. But he eventually became a full member.

In 1974, Milgram published his book Obedience to Authority. He won an award for his work on obedience in 1964. His experiments were partly inspired by the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann. Milgram's studies helped explain why people might follow harmful orders. He also made a film about his experiments. These studies are now seen as very important in social psychology.

Milgram believed that obedience happens when a person sees themselves as a tool for someone else's wishes. They then feel less responsible for their own actions. He also thought other things played a role. These included politeness, not wanting to quit, and believing the experiment had a good purpose.

Some people disagreed with Milgram's ideas. They thought people might just stick to their beliefs, even when faced with bad evidence. Critics also wondered if the people in the experiment knew it wasn't real. Others questioned if the lab setting matched real-world situations.

The biggest criticisms were about the ethics of the experiment. Milgram felt that these worries came from people not liking his results. He believed people wanted to think that normal people would refuse authority if it meant hurting others.

The Small-World Experiment

Milgram explored the idea of six degrees of separation in 1967. This was part of his "small-world experiment." He wanted to see how connected people in the United States were. Milgram sent packages to 160 random people in Omaha, Nebraska. He asked them to forward the package to a friend. The goal was to get the package to a specific stockbroker in Boston, Massachusetts.

Each person could only mail the package to someone they knew personally. They hoped their friend might know the target person. Milgram tracked the progress of each package. He was surprised by the results. One package reached the target in just four days. It only needed two people in between.

Overall, Milgram found that chains of connections varied. They ranged from two to ten people in between. The average was five people. This meant there were about "six degrees of separation" between the sender and the target.

Milgram's "six degrees" idea has been questioned by some. He didn't track all the packages he sent. So, some scientists are not fully convinced by the "six degrees" idea. However, a 2008 study by Microsoft supported the concept. It found that users of its Messenger service were connected by an average of 6.6 people.

The Lost Letter Experiment

Milgram also created the "lost letter" experiment. This method helped measure how helpful people are to strangers. It also showed their attitudes toward different groups. He placed sealed and stamped letters in public places. These letters were addressed to various groups. Some were for individuals or good organizations, like medical research groups. Others were for groups that people might dislike, such as "Friends of the Nazi Party."

Milgram found that most letters addressed to individuals and liked organizations were mailed. But most of the letters addressed to disliked organizations were not mailed. This showed how people's attitudes can affect their actions.

Cyranoids: Blending Minds and Bodies

In 1977, Milgram started an experiment inspired by a play called Cyrano de Bergerac. In the play, Cyrano helps another person, Christian, woo a woman by giving him words to say. Milgram wanted to see if he could do something similar in real life.

He trained people to repeat words given to them by someone else through a hidden radio. These people would then talk to others who didn't know about the trick. Milgram called these combined agents "cyranoids." The people talking to the cyranoids usually didn't realize they were just repeating someone else's words. Milgram called this the "cyranic illusion." This illusion worked even when the person speaking and the person giving the words were very different. For example, Milgram himself gave words for children to repeat when teachers interviewed them. The teachers didn't notice the deception.

Milgram hoped cyranoids could help study social behavior. They could explore how people form ideas about others based on things like race, gender, or age. He worked on this method until his death in 1984. Later, other psychologists have continued to use and study cyranoids.

See also

In Spanish: Stanley Milgram para niños