Shocking study

Shocking study finds most will torture if ordered

Scientists mentioned that some things never change as they had replicated an experiment in which people obediently delivered painful shocks to others if encouraged to do so by authority figures. Seventy percent of volunteers continued to administer electrical shocks or at least they believed they were doing so even after an actor claimed they were painful. The found is validation
of the same argument if you put people into certain situations, they will act in surprising, and maybe often even disturbing ways. In an experiment in which volunteers were asked to deliver electric "shocks" to other people if they answered certain questions incorrectly. The experiment surprised psychologists & no one has tried to replicate it because of the distress suffered by many of the volunteers who believed they were shocking another person. It was a very stressful experience for many of the participants. That is the reason no one can ethically replicate the experiment today. The experiment, by stopping at the 150 volt point for the 29 men and 41 women in his experiment. Scientists measured how many of his volunteers began to deliver another shock when prompted by the experiment's leader but instead of letting them do so, stopped them.

At 1 point, researchers brought in a volunteer who knew what was going on and refused to administer shocks beyond 150 volts. Despite the example, 63% of the participants continued administering shocks past 150 volts. The experiment found no differences among his volunteers, aged 20 to 81, and carefully screened them to be average representatives of the U.S. public. Although one must be cautious when making the leap from laboratory studies to complex social behaviors such as genocide, understanding the social psychological factors that contribute to people acting in unexpected and unsettling ways is important.