think, there’s plenty of time for that if need be and, besides, how strong
a shock could it be?
After you have had a chance to study the list of word pairs, the re-
searcher straps you into a chair and, with the Teacher looking on, at-
taches electrodes to your arm. More worried now about the effect of
the shock, you inquire into its severity. The researcher’s response is
hardly comforting; he says that although the shocks can be extremely
painful, they will cause you “no permanent tissue damage.” With that,
the researcher and the Teacher leave you alone and go to the next room,
where the Teacher asks you the test questions through an intercom
system and delivers electric punishment for every wrong response.
As the test proceeds, you quickly recognize the pattern that the
Teacher follows: He asks the question and waits for your answer over
the intercom. Whenever you err, he announces the voltage of the shock
you are about to receive and pulls a level to deliver the punishment.
The most troubling thing is that with each error you make, the shock
increases by 15 volts.
The first part of the test progresses smoothly. The shocks are annoying
but tolerable. Later on, though, as your mistakes accumulate and the
shock voltages climb, the punishment begins to hurt enough to disrupt
your concentration, which leads to more errors and ever more disruptive
shocks. At the 75-, 90-, and 105-volt levels, the pain makes you grunt
audibly. At 120 volts, you exclaim into the intercom that the shocks are
really starting to hurt. You take one more punishment with a groan and
decide that you can’t take much more pain. After the Teacher delivers
the 150-volt shock, you shout back into the intercom, “That’s all! Get
me out of here! Get me out of here, please! Let me out!”
But instead of the assurance you expect from the Teacher that he and
the researcher are coming to release you, the Teacher merely gives you
the next test question to answer. Surprised and confused, you mumble
the first answer to come into your head. It’s wrong, of course, and the
Teacher delivers a 165-volt shock. You scream at the Teacher to stop,
to let you out. But he responds only with the next test question—and
with the next slashing shock when your frenzied answer is incorrect.
You can’t hold down the panic any longer; the shocks are so strong
now they make you writhe and shriek. You kick the wall, demand to
be released, beg the Teacher to help you. But the test questions continue
as before and so do the dreaded shocks—in searing jolts of 195, 210,
225, 240, 255, 270, 285, and 300 volts. You realize that you can’t possibly
answer the test correctly now, so you shout to the Teacher that you
won’t answer his questions any longer. Nothing changes; the Teacher
interprets your failure to respond as an incorrect response and sends
another bolt. The ordeal continues in this way until, finally, the power
158 / Influence