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Psychological experiments have shown that the natural human desire to conform can lead people to mistrust their own experiences, turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, and even inflict harm on the defenseless. But these findings have come at a price: the potential emotional damage of those being studied. This three-section program grapples with some of the thorny ethical issues arising from psychological research into obedience and conformity as it questions the ethicality of Stanley Milgram's Study of Obedience; uses a proposed student project on bullying to address the need for ethical constraints when conducting experiments; and weighs the benefits and costs of increased ethical regulation of research. A part of the series Applied Psychology. (30 minutes)
