In 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment. The aim of the experiment was to determine the willingness of average people to follow the orders of an authoritative figure, even when those orders contradict their own values and morals.

Characters of the Experiment

The experiment involved three characters:

• An official experimenter
• Students and
• Teachers

Only the teachers were "real" participants in the experiment. Both the experimenter and the students were actors. This was unknown to the subjects—the teachers—who assumed that the students were also participants.

Preparation of the Experiment

The subjects were informed that the experiment was about studying the relationship between learning success and punishment.

Through a manipulated draw, the experimenter assigned an actor as the student and the actual test subject as the teacher.

The experimental setup, where all participants except the subjects were informed, was adapted by Milgram from experiments by psychologist Solomon Asch, who conducted the conformity experiment among others.

The teacher (the subject) was informed before the start of the experiment that they should administer an electric shock to the student on the experimenter's command for each incorrect answer. The intensity of the shock was to increase with each wrong answer.

To sensitize the subject to what an electric shock feels like, they were given a 45-volt shock. Additionally, the subject was shown the chair on which the student would be tested during the experiment. The appearance of the chair was intentionally reminiscent of an electric chair, which is still used for executions in the USA today (most recently on 20.02.2020 (Source: Wikipedia)).

Subsequently, the subject was shown the impressive console, specially manufactured for this experiment, at which they would sit during the experiment. It was located (in the basic version of the experiment) in a different room. The console was connected by cables to the student's chair and had 30 setting switches and 30 control lights. The device displayed a fictional type designation and the voltage range: “Output 15 Volts-450 Volts”. Almost half of all setting switches were in a section marked with red lettering. The last two switches were even labeled with "XX". Additionally, there was a section for displaying the currently set voltage.

The console was a mock-up, which was unknown to the subjects. The subjects had to assume they were administering real electric shocks to the "students" in the experiment.

Procedure of the Experiment

The core of the experiment was that the teacher (the subject) was to question the student (actor) about word pairings. They were to follow the instructions of the experimenter (actor). On the experimenter's command, the teacher was to administer an electric shock to the student for each incorrect answer, increasing by 15 volts with each mistake. These were not real electric shocks, which was hidden from the teacher. In the first version of the experiment, the student was in an adjacent room. The teacher could not see the student but could only hear them through a speaker. The student (actor) reacted to the shocks according to a predefined scheme:

• At 75 volts, the student reacted with a grunt/groan
• At 120 volts, the student already reacted with cries of pain
• At 150 volts, the student said they no longer wanted to participate in the experiment because the pain was too intense
• At 200 volts, the student reacted with screams suggesting unbearable pain
• At 300 volts, the student no longer responded to questions
• At 330 volts, the student no longer reacted at all

The experimenter (actor), who was in the same room as the teacher (the subject) in the basic version of the experiment, also reacted according to a previously defined scheme:

Whenever the teacher (subject) expressed doubts or wanted to stop the experiment, the experimenter responded with one of the following sentences:

• The 1st time: “Please continue!” or “Please go on!”
• The 2nd time: “The experiment requires that you continue!”
• The 3rd time: “It is absolutely essential that you continue!”
• The 4th time: “You have no choice, you must go on!”
• The 5th time: Termination of the experiment

There were additional predefined reactions from the experimenter:

• If the student (actor) demanded to be freed from their chair from 150 volts onwards, the experimenter demanded the continuation of the experiment for the benefit of science
• To the subject's question of whether the student could suffer lasting damage, the experimenter replied: “Although the shocks may be painful, the tissue will not suffer permanent damage, so please continue!”
• To the subject's statement that the student wanted to stop the experiment, the experimenter replied: “Whether the student likes it or not, you must continue until he has learned all the word pairs correctly. So please continue!”
• To the subject's question of who is responsible for this, the experimenter assured the subject that they take full responsibility for everything that happens

Variants of the Experiment

Because the results of the basic experiment were so surprising, the experiment was subsequently conducted in many modified forms. For example, the proximity between teacher and student was changed. The following gradations were made:

• Remote room: The students are in an adjacent room and cannot be seen or heard by the teachers (subjects). Only a bang on the wall is heard when the 300-volt mark is reached
• Acoustic feedback: The students are in an adjacent room and cannot be seen by the teachers but can be heard through a speaker
• Room proximity: The students are in the same room as the teachers and the experimenters
• Touch proximity: The teacher must place the student's hand on a metal plate, protected by a glove, to deliver the shock

Results of the Experiment

These are the surprising and at the same time frightening results of the experiment, considering the proximity between student and teacher:

• Remote room: 65 percent of all subjects went up to the maximum of 450 volts
• Acoustic feedback: 62.5 percent of all subjects went up to the maximum of 450 volts
• Room proximity: 40 percent of all subjects went up to the maximum of 450 volts
• Touch proximity: 30 percent of all subjects went up to the maximum of 450 volts

Conclusion

The willingness to act against one's own values and morals on command is high in most people,

• when they themselves possess authority (teacher)
• when the orders come from an authority (experimenter)
• the greater the distance to the victim (student)
• when they can convince themselves that someone else (experimenter) is responsible for their actions

Thus, it is not surprising that soldiers find it easier to launch a drone strike on command than to shoot an enemy in close combat. Based on these results, it is also not surprising that many SS officers accused after World War II said in court: “I was just following orders!”