In Repeat of Milgram's Electric Shock Experiment, People Still Pull the Lever

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By Nina Bai
Dec 20, 2008 3:04 AMNov 5, 2019 5:25 AM

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In a new study, most people willingly pulled a lever to deliver pain to others when instructed to do so, showing that little has changed in the near half-century since psychologist Stanley Milgram's famous electric shock experiment. Milgram's experiment revealed our propensity to do harm when encouraged by authority, a topic of great interest in the post-World War II years. A new iteration of the experiment (with added precautions) revealed that seven out of ten people will give painful electric shocks to another person as part of what they are told is a scientific investigation.

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