The purpose of Milgram's study on obedience was to find out how many people would obey an authority figure when directly ordered to violate their own ethical standards.

Milgram's study was designed to investigate the extent to which people would obey authority figures, even if such obedience went against their own moral values or conscience. The study involved participants administering electric shocks to another person under the orders of an experimenter, even if they believed that these shocks were causing harm. The study aimed to demonstrate the power of situational factors, such as the presence of an authority figure, in influencing behavior, and to raise awareness about the potential dangers of blind obedience.