How Obedient(ōˈbēdēənt) Are You?

How Obedient(ōˈbēdēənt) Are You?

By Steve Pavlina

In the early(ˈərlē) 1960s, Yale(yāl) professor(prəˈfesər) Stanley(ˈstanlē) Milgram conducted a serious(ˈsi(ə)rēəs) of famous(famous) psychological(ˌsīkəˈläjəkəl) experiments(rē) to measure(meZHər) people’s obedience(ōˈbēdēəns) to authority(ôˈTHär-,əˈTHôritē). A volunteer(ˌvälənˈtir) was instructed by an experimenter to help administer(ədˈminəstər) a simple test to a subject in another room. Cards were drawn(drôn) to determine(diˈtərmin) which of two “volunteers” would play each role(rōl), but the cards were rigged(rig) such that the actual(ˈakCHo͞oəl) volunteer was always given the same role each time, and the other role was played by an actor. This gave the volunteers the impression(imˈpreSHən) that the role they happened to be assigned(əˈsīn) was arbitrary(ˈärbiˌtrerē).

The test subject (i.e. actor) could be heard(hi(ə)r) but not seen by the volunteer. Whenever a test question was answered incorrectly by the subject-actor, the volunteer was instructed to administer a shock(SHäk) by pressing a button on a control(kənˈtrōl) panel(ˈpanl). These shocks began at a negligibly(ˈneglijəbəl) low voltage(ˈvōltij), but with each wrong answer, the shocks were to be increased(ɪnˈkris) in 15-volt (vält,vôlt,vōlt) increments(ˈiNGkrəmənt,ˈin-) until eventually(iˈvenCHo͞oəlē) the final(ˈfīnl) level of 450 volts was reached(rēCH). The shocks were fake(fāk), so no one was physically(ˈfizikəl) harmed, but the volunteers didn’t know that the shocks were fake.

As these shocks were administered, the subject in the next room (who again could be heard but not seen by the volunteer), would express(ikˈspres) discomfort(disˈkəmfərt) in a manner(ˈmanər) befitting the severity(səˈveritē) of the shock, including complaining(kəmˈplān) of a heart(härt) condition, screaming(skrēm) louder and louder, and banging(baNG) on the wall(wôl). After a certain(ˈsərtn) voltage was passed, the shock-receiver eventually become completely silent(ˈsīlənt) (as if to simulate(ˈsimyəˌlāt) unconsciousness(ˌənˈkänCHəsnəs) or death(deTH)). Even after this point, the volunteer was instructed to continue administering shocks.

Milgram’s experiment was intended to test how far the average(ˈav(ə)rij) person would go. At what point would they refuse(-ˌyo͞oz,riˈfyo͞oz,ˈrefˌyo͞os) to give out any more shocks, despite(diˈspīt) being told by the experimenter to continue?

If you haven’t already heard of this experiment, what would your prediction(priˈdikSHən) be? What percentage(pərˈsentij) of people would go all the way to the end?

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