Which major study is associated with obedience in social psychology?

The Milgram experiment is a pivotal study in social psychology that specifically investigates obedience to authority. Conducted by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s, the study was designed to explore how far individuals would go in obeying an authority figure, even when asked to perform actions that conflicted with their personal conscience.

Participants in the Milgram experiment were instructed to administer shocks to a "learner" (who was actually an actor and not receiving real shocks) each time the learner provided incorrect answers to questions. The results indicated that a significant majority of participants were willing to administer potentially lethal shocks when prompted by the experimenter, highlighting the power of authority figures in influencing behavior, even in moral dilemmas.

Other studies mentioned, while important in their own right, focus on different psychological phenomena. The Stanford prison experiment examines the impact of situational variables and role expectations on behavior, particularly in a prison setting. The Bobo doll experiment explores the concept of social learning and how children imitate aggressive behaviors observed in adults. The Asch conformity experiment investigates group pressure and its influence on individual decision-making, particularly in regards to conformity. Each of these studies contributes valuable insights into human behavior, but it is the Milgram experiment that is most closely associated with the