Repeat of Milgram Experiments Shows Little Change in Half-Century
Jan 5th, 2009 • Posted in: NewsSubjects still are willing to deliver painful electric shocks if person in authority says it’s all right
SANTA CLARA, Calif.
A repeat of the infamous 1960s Milgram experiments — in which unsuspecting subjects showed their willingness to deliver a painful electric shock when ordered to do so by an authority figure — shows that human nature has not changed much, researchers say.
Stanley Milgram’s classic study of human obedience found that about two-thirds of subjects were willing to inflict what they believed were increasingly painful electric shocks when an experimenter dressed in a while lab coat told them to do so, reports CNN. The subjects believed they were part of an experiment involving punishment and learning, and were instructed to deliver shocks to a confederate who masqueraded as the test subject and screamed in mock pain.
Some participants in the Milgram studies, notes the BBC, continued to give shocks to the confederate even after the screams stopped and there was no response, indicating that the subject was either unconscious or dead.
A new study, conducted at the University of Santa Clara in California and set for publication in American Psychologist, replicated the earlier study with certain conditions less stressful to the unwitting test subjects.
In spite of new procedures that allowed the subjects more latitude in ending the administration of the bogus shocks, the vast majority of the 29 men and 41 women tested were willing to administer painful shocks, reports Discover Magazine.
About 70 percent continued the shocks up to 150 volts and were willing to go higher.
The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that the underlying pattern of the subjects remained the same as a half-century ago: When figures of authority take responsibility for a decision to hurt other people, people willingly follow them.
Sources: Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 28, 2008 — CNN, Dec. 19, 2008 — BBC, Dec. 19, 2008 — Discover, Dec. 19, 2008.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Aug 25, 2008 — Related Newsline story, June 23, 2008 — Related Newsline story, May 12, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 2, 2007 — Related Newsline Commentary, Dec. 19, 2005.
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