Zusammenfassung

This article describes a procedure for the study of destructive obedience in the laboratory. It consists ofordering a naive S to administer increasing more severe punishment to a victim in the context of a learning experiment. Punishment is administered by means of a shock generator with 30 graded switches ranging from Sight Shock to Danger: Severe Shock. The victim is a confederateof E. The primary dependent variable is the maximum shock the S is wiling to administer before he refuses to continue further. 26 Ss obeyed the experimental commands fully, and administered the highest shock on the generator. 14 Ss broke off the experimentat some point after the victim protested and refused to provide further answers. The procedure created extreme levels of nervoustensionin some Ss. Profuse sweating, trembling and stuttering were typical expressions of this emotional disturbance. One unexpected sign of tension-yet to be explained-was the regular occurrence of nervous laughter, whichin some Ss developed into uncontrollable seizures. The variety of interesting bebavioral dynamics observed in the experiment, the realityof the situation for the S, and the possibility of parametric variation withinthe framework of the procedure, point to the fruitfulness of further study.