Participants who had both status and power did not greatly demean their partners. They chose an average of 0.67 demeaning activities for those partners to perform. Low-power/low-status and low-power/high-status participants behaved similarly. They chose, on average, 0.67 and 0.85 demeaning activities. However, participants who were low in status but high in powerthe classic little Hitler combinationchose an average of 1.12 deeply demeaning tasks for their partners to engage in. That was a highly statistically significant distinction.

　　Of course, not everybody in the high-power/low-status quadrant of the experiment behaved badly. Underlying personality may still have a role. But as with previous experiments in which random members of the public have been asked to play prison guard or interrogator, Dr Fasts result suggests that many quite ordinary people will succumb to bad behaviour if the circumstances are right.

　　【重点单词及短语】

　　functionary adj. 公务员的；官员的

　　gratification n. 喜悦；满意

　　plague n. 瘟疫；灾祸；麻烦；讨厌的人 v. 折磨；使苦恼；使得灾祸

　　hitherto adv. 迄今；至今

　　gravitate v. 受引力作用；被吸引

　　manipulate v. 操纵；操作；巧妙地处理；篡改

　　interact with 与相互作用

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