Which psychologist examined the impact of obedience to authority using a controversial experiment involving shocks?

The psychologist who examined the impact of obedience to authority through a controversial experiment involving shocks is Stanley Milgram. His famous study, conducted in the early 1960s, aimed to understand the extent to which individuals would comply with an authority figure's instructions, even when those instructions caused apparent harm to another person. Milgram's experiment involved participants administering electric shocks to a confederate (who was actually not receiving shocks) at the direction of an experimenter when the confederate gave incorrect answers to questions.

The results demonstrated that a significant number of participants were willing to administer what they believed were painful, even dangerous shocks to others purely because an authority figure instructed them to do so. This finding raised important questions about moral responsibility and the power of authority, contributing to discussions in social psychology about obedience, authority, and human behavior in group contexts.

Milgram's work is considered vital for understanding how situational factors can influence behavior, especially in contexts of authority and compliance.