Is Milgram still relevant?

Spoiler: Yes – maybe more than ever.

Stanley Milgram’s 1963 obedience study is one of psychology’s most famous and controversial experiments. You’ve probably studied how participants were instructed to deliver electric shocks to a "learner" — and how 65% went all the way to the highest voltage. Shocking, literally.

But was this just a 1960s anomaly? Not at all.

Milgram’s findings are still incredibly relevant today. Why? Because the same psychological mechanisms he uncovered — authority, obedience, diffusion of responsibility — still explain human behavior in modern contexts. From military obedience to unethical corporate decisions and even cyberbullying, people continue to obey orders or follow the crowd, especially under perceived pressure.

Even modern replications, like Burger (2009), found similar obedience levels, despite updated ethical guidelines. That tells us something crucial: the forces that drive obedience haven’t gone anywhere — they’ve just evolved.

Milgram reminds us that ordinary people can do extraordinary things under the influence of authority. In a world filled with hierarchies, groupthink, and power dynamics, that lesson still matters.