If the origins of mass killing cannot be explained by psychopathology, or the existence of a homogenous personality, it implies that anyone then can become complicit to extreme ideological violence. Intrigued by this proposition, Milgram (1974) conducted a number of famous experiments on the obedience to authority. His work, along with the likes of Zimbardo (1969) and Asch (1951) revolutionised the field of psychology and our understanding of the influence situations have on an individual’s behaviour. As in Altemeyer’s study on teachers and learners above, Milgram’s results, which inspired Altemeyer’s study, also indicated that the most significant factor driving a person to commit violent acts is not the individual, but rather the situation they are placed under. This explains why an increased number of teachers were able to cause pain to the learners when separated from them. Milgram’s work provided a number of key insights about the power of the situation. In particular, while individual background slightly influenced how likely an individual would obey authority, the impulse to obey cut across gender, nationality, education, religious affiliation, and personality type (Kressel, 1996, p146 ). In addition, Milgram proposed that when confronted with a legitimate …show more content…
Blass, 1993) argue that Milgram’s studies do not account for much of the sadistic behaviour which occurred during the Holocaust (Berkowitz, 1999). Horrific reports of grotesque torture and killing, which fall out with the boundary of ‘ordinary’ duties (that may be explained through obedience), suggest alternative explanations to the behaviour of perpetrators. Therefore, while Milgram’s studies may not provide a definitive framework for the causes of genocide, its impact on the study of mass killing cannot be understated. Milgram’s insights shone light on the fundamental issue that ordinary people were capable of facilitating a terribly destructive