Milgram's Unpublished Obedience Variation and its Historical Relevance

In May 1962, Milgram ran the last experimental condition of his obedience experiments in which participants brought a friend to the laboratory. This article reports on previously unpublished findings from this Bring-a-Friend condition. First, if a participant questions the experimental procedure before administering a punishment more than 10 times to his fellow participant or to his friend, he will succeed in opposing the experimenter's demands to complete the experiment. Early resistance predicts participants' successful defiance. Second, when the friend is in the role of learner, participants who resist either early or late consequently lessen the number of times they administer the demanded punishment. Having to punish a friend shortens the period of cooperation between reluctant participants and experimenter. These findings are then related to the case of Carl Lutz saving Jews from deportation to their death during WWII.