How might conformity to an expert have affected participants in the Milgram experiment?

In the Milgram experiment, participants—referred to as "teachers"—often conformed to the instructions of an authority figure (the experimenter) despite the moral distress caused by administering what they believed were painful electric shocks to a "learner."12

Conformity to this expert authority may have affected participants in several ways:

• Perceived Inferiority: Participants may have viewed themselves as less knowledgeable than the experimenter regarding the study's goals, leading them to defer to the expert's judgment on how to proceed.2
• Diffusion of Responsibility: By following the commands of an authority figure, participants may have felt they were not personally responsible for the harm inflicted, viewing themselves merely as agents carrying out the experimenter's directives.2
• Incremental Pressure: The "slippery slope" of the experiment—starting with small, seemingly benign demands that gradually increased in severity—made it difficult for participants to disengage once they had begun.2
• Social Influence: The presence of an authority figure created a powerful social pressure that overrode the participants' own verbalized disapproval of the shocks.12

It is important to note that these experiments are widely considered unethical today due to the deception, lack of informed consent, and the extreme psychological stress placed on participants.12