The Perils Of Obedience: The Stanley Milgram Experiment

The followers in Jonestown executed every task Jones asked them to, and this decreases cult member’s agency because they become less responsible for their actions. Those in Jonestown followed every order their leader commanded to please him, and this is exactly what happened in the Stanley Milgram Experiment. The American Psychological Association states, “In the middle of the jungle in Guyana, South America, nearly 1,000 people drank lethal cyanide punch or were shot to death, following the orders of their leader, Jim Jones… And when people are uncertain, they look to others for cues on what to do, research has shown.” Jones’ church members were willing to do anything for him, even kill themselves. He moved them to a place they were unfamiliar with, so they became more vulnerable and more compliant.

This exemplifies what the Stanley Milgram experiment teaches. The “Perils of Obedience” states, “I set up an experiment at Yale University to see how much pain on an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist… 65% of the subjects went to the end, even those that protested” (Milgram 1-3). Those in the test group followed through, despite protesting, because they did not want to disappoint the man in charge. They were put in a laboratory, which is an unfamiliar location for the average person. This made them vulnerable and more compliant like the people in Jonestown. Both the unfamiliar location and the need to please the authority created a recipe for compliance for both the members and the test group, and they followed their leader’s instructions until the very end. By following these instructions, the followers and the test group lost agency, for they were not as responsible for their decisions. Their leaders gave their instructions, which caused the responsibility to lie on their