If the teacher considered not shocking the learner, the experimenter urged the teacher to continue. Prior to the experiment, Milgram described the procedure to several psychiatrists and asked them to predict the outcome. The psychiatrists indicated that no more than 1 in 1,000 would give a 450 volt shock to an apparently unconscious man. Milgram replicated the experiment with several changes in situational variables. Generally, he did not find gender, age or race differences in obedience to authority.
People seem about equally likely to obey authority regardless of personal characteristics.
Many people believe in free will and self-determination, and that their actions or behavior corresponds with their beliefs, attitudes, and values. This is only partially true. For example, a person's self-image may include being a trustworthy, honest individual. However, there may be occasions when the person does something dishonest - cheats on a test when everyone is cheating, keeps money that belongs to someone else, etc. For example, participants in Asch's experiment apparently made errors in judgments to fit in with the rest of the guys - even when they knew the judgment was incorrect.