The original experiment was done in the 1960s with an entirely different set of social norms, and I don’t think it has much validity today. The real way to know is to try it again, but there is no way that this sort of experimentation could ever be approved in academic settings in 2022.
Why do I think it is invalid now?
- the 1960 subjects were all people born during or not long after the end of WW2. There was still a very militaryish – standard way of doing things for kids whose parents fought in the war. (Remember, this research was done pre-Vietnam war and well before the social tumult of the 1960s and 19702.
- that, in turn, leads to the ‘question authority’ and ‘show me’ ethos of the 1980s. People (men in particular) were far less ready to just take leaders and politicians for granted. Remember that they had been lied to by Nixon (who had to resign), Agnew, who had to resign), LBJ (about the war), and Reagan in the 1980s as well. And they saw Bill Clinton, an excellent president, persecuted because of a blow job, which made no sense. So political events that happened after this study took place changed the whole ‘respect authority’ environment.
- Finally, certain political leaders (Bush II, Trump, Netanyahu, Boris Johnson, and certainly others) – have made a mockery of leadership and authority because of their actions. No one takes their authority seriously.
Conclusion: looking at the Milgram experiment 60 years later is uninformative and probably not a great idea.