Aug
13th
Thu
13th
Most Will Torture If Ordered
The majority of people will deliver painful electrical shocks to others if told to do so by an authority figure.
Researchers at the University of Santa Clara set up a study in which participants were told to hit a button that delivered an increasingly intense electrical shock to other participantswho were being punished for answering questions incorrectly. Seventy percent were willing to continue to administer the shocks even after the recipients — played by actors — screamed out in pain.
If it sounds familiar, this was an update of the notorious 1961 Yale University experiment,which found 82.5 percent of participants were willing to ignore the cries of their fellow menif an official-looking science guy ordered it.(source)