ATTRIBUTION OF RESPONSIBILITY AND TRUST IN THE MILGRAM OBEDIENCE EXPERIMENT

The two primary theoretical explanations for the findings of the Milgr am (1963, 1974) obedience studies are that of Milgram, stressing the r ole of relinquished responsibility to the authority on the one hand, a nd that of Mixon (1971, 1972), for whom trust in the experimenter is t he key element on the other hand. The aim of the 2 studies reported in this article, using edited portions of the film Obedience (Milgram, 1 965), was to explore the naive social perceiver's understanding of the dynamics of obedience to authority through his or her attributions ab out responsibility and trust, and thereby to provide some input into t he theoretical controversy between Milgram and Mixon. Both studies wer e more supportive of Milgram's than of Mixon's position.