Such_Saturation
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Evil not so banal, says disturbing new probe
Every time the learner made a mistake, the "teacher" was told by a stern-faced, lab-coated official to crank up the shock, starting with a mild 15 volts and climaxing at a lethal 450 volts. The experiment was fake—the learner was an actor and the shocks never happened. The teacher could hear, but not see, the learner.
Frighteningly, in one test, nearly two-thirds of volunteers continued all the way to "lethal" voltage, even when the learner pleaded for mercy, wept or screamed in agony.
These experiments became enshrined in textbooks as an illustration of how the conscience can be put on hold under orders.
The new research, published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, took a closer look at Milgram's "teachers".
A team sifted through a box in the Yale archives that contained comments written by the volunteers after they were told the purpose of the experiment, and that the torture had been fake. Of the 800 participants, 659 submitted a reaction. Some said they had felt unease or distress during the tests, but most reported being positive about the experience, some extremely so.
"To be part of such an important experiment can only make one feel good," said one.
"I feel I have contributed in some small way toward the development of man and his attitudes towards others," said another.
"If it [is] your belief that these studies will benefit mankind then I say we should have more of them," said another.
Were these happy comments spurred by relief, after volunteers learned they had not, in fact, hurt anyone?
No, suggests the paper. A sense of pleasure, of duty fulfilled, of having served a higher calling, pervaded the comment cards.
Milgram had also given the volunteers a dose of mission-priming before the experiment. Without saying what it entailed, he told them that what they would do would advance the cause of knowledge.
Participants' awe of Ivy-League Yale played a role, too—obedience levels were higher there than when experiments were conducted in offices in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Milgram "was a skilful dramatist as well as a psychologist," said Kathryn Millard, a professor at Macquarie University, Sydney.
Every time the learner made a mistake, the "teacher" was told by a stern-faced, lab-coated official to crank up the shock, starting with a mild 15 volts and climaxing at a lethal 450 volts. The experiment was fake—the learner was an actor and the shocks never happened. The teacher could hear, but not see, the learner.
Frighteningly, in one test, nearly two-thirds of volunteers continued all the way to "lethal" voltage, even when the learner pleaded for mercy, wept or screamed in agony.
These experiments became enshrined in textbooks as an illustration of how the conscience can be put on hold under orders.
The new research, published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, took a closer look at Milgram's "teachers".
A team sifted through a box in the Yale archives that contained comments written by the volunteers after they were told the purpose of the experiment, and that the torture had been fake. Of the 800 participants, 659 submitted a reaction. Some said they had felt unease or distress during the tests, but most reported being positive about the experience, some extremely so.
"To be part of such an important experiment can only make one feel good," said one.
"I feel I have contributed in some small way toward the development of man and his attitudes towards others," said another.
"If it [is] your belief that these studies will benefit mankind then I say we should have more of them," said another.
Were these happy comments spurred by relief, after volunteers learned they had not, in fact, hurt anyone?
No, suggests the paper. A sense of pleasure, of duty fulfilled, of having served a higher calling, pervaded the comment cards.
Milgram had also given the volunteers a dose of mission-priming before the experiment. Without saying what it entailed, he told them that what they would do would advance the cause of knowledge.
Participants' awe of Ivy-League Yale played a role, too—obedience levels were higher there than when experiments were conducted in offices in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Milgram "was a skilful dramatist as well as a psychologist," said Kathryn Millard, a professor at Macquarie University, Sydney.