Classic Psychology Experiments and Big 5 Personality Traits

Milgram Obedience Experiment

Stanley Milgram designed an experiment to study how direct commands influence behavior, focusing on obedience – the act of responding to commands. He sought to answer the question: "Under what social conditions are people more likely to obey?"

The experiment involved an authority figure instructing participants to administer electric shocks to a "learner" for incorrect answers. While most people predicted they would stop upon the learner expressing pain, the reality was different. Even with complaints from the learner, most participants obeyed the experimenter's directives, such as "please continue."

Several factors increased obedience: the authority figure's perceived status, their proximity to the participant, the learner's physical separation (in another room), and the observation of other participants obeying. Ultimately, the experiment revealed that participants were more obedient than most would have predicted.

Asch Conformity Experiment

Solomon Asch's experiment investigated the extent to which social pressure from a group could influence an individual to conform. The study demonstrated that one-third of participants would agree with obvious mistruths to align with the group.

Asch employed a "vision test" using a line judgment task. Unbeknownst to one real participant in each group, all other participants were confederates instructed to provide predetermined responses. The real participant, unaware of this arrangement, was always the last to answer.

The results showed that participants placed in this situation often conformed to the clearly incorrect majority opinion. Most of them later admitted to not believing their conforming answers but chose to go along with the group to avoid potential ridicule. This highlights two primary reasons for conformity: fitting in with the group and believing the group to be better informed.

Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment

This experiment, conducted by Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University, highlighted the profound influence of situational factors on human behavior. The study involved a simulated prison environment where students were randomly assigned roles as either prisoners or guards.

Zimbardo aimed to observe the impact of these assigned roles on behavior. Participants, all psychologically healthy students, volunteered for the study, expecting it to last 1-2 weeks. However, the experiment was terminated after only six days due to the alarming behavior exhibited by the participants.

The guards became increasingly abusive, while the prisoners displayed signs of extreme stress and anxiety. The situation deeply affected everyone involved, including Zimbardo himself, blurring the lines between the simulated environment and reality. The Stanford Prison Experiment serves as a stark reminder of the transformative power of situations in shaping human behavior, with potential parallels drawn to real-world events like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Big 5 Personality Traits and Their Definitions

The Big 5 personality traits represent a widely recognized framework in psychology for understanding personality differences. These traits are:

Openness

Characterized by curiosity, originality, intellectualism, creativity, and a willingness to embrace new ideas.

Conscientiousness

Defined by organization, systematicity, punctuality, achievement orientation, and dependability.

Extraversion

Marked by being outgoing, talkative, sociable, and deriving enjoyment from social situations.

Agreeableness

Characterized by affability, tolerance, sensitivity, trustworthiness, kindness, and warmth.

Neuroticism

Associated with anxiety, irritability, mood swings, and emotional instability.