The aim of the experiment was to investigate
what level of obedience would be shown when
participants were told by an authority figure to
administer electric shocks to another person.
Context
Sample
40 males aged between 20 and
50 years of age, were recruited
from the New Haven area.
They were obtained by
responding to a newspaper and
direct mail advertisement which
asked for volunteers to
participate in a study of memory
and learning at Yale University.
The participants represented a wide
range of occupations, including postal
clerks, high-school teachers, salesmen,
engineers and labourers.
They were paid $4.50 for their participation in the
experiment but importantly they were told that the
payment was simply for coming to the laboratory,
regardless of what happened after they arrived.