Summary of Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The experiment was to see how far a person would go in a concrete and measurable situation in which he was ordered to inflict increasing pain on a protesting victim. At what point would the subject refuse to obey the experimenter. #2 The Milgram experiment was designed to see how people would respond to a clear moral imperative. It found that a substantial proportion of subjects would continue to the last shock on the generator even when the person they were shocking begged them not to. #3 The most fundamental lesson of the experiment is that ordinary people, who are simply doing their jobs, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Many people were unable to realize their values in action, and continued participating in the experiment even though they disagreed with what they were doing. #4 The most common adjustment of thought in the obedient subject is to see himself as not responsible for his actions. He divests himself of responsibility by attributing all initiative to the experimenter, a legitimate authority.