Obedience And Authority : Will People Do Anything If Ordered? Essay

Obedience to people in authority is a deep-rooted trait that we all possess by virtue of our upbringing, and as Milgram put it, “it is only the person dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, with defiance or submission, to the commands of others” (Milgram 1974). This trait is exhibited every day in family circles, workplace and school. People are most likely to obey instructions from people they perceive their authority to be legal or moral. We see people obeying their pastors, leaders in various societies and other people they see as higher to them; and they obey anything they are being told even if it involves killing another human being. They justify their actions, however wrong, on obedience to authority.

1. The researcher in this experiment was psychologist, Stanley Milgram. The study took place at Yale University in the year 1963. The researcher’s hypothesis was that if there is a demanding authoritive figure, then the other person will obey that authoritive figure just because of their position, even if it violates their morality and their ethical beliefs. He based this of his theory that people who would never hurt someone purposely, would if told to do so by a figure of authority.

America is known as a “melting pot,” but that nickname no longer brings along a good connotation. This country should be considered a “salad,” where each person contributes something different, yet amazing, to the table. However, in today’s era, the melting pot changed from multiple unique cultures to everyone converting into a more “socially-acceptable” one. Instead of adding to the beauty of this country, this turned into peer pressure and it is destroying the individual’s ability to think on their own. The instinct humans have when distinguishing right from wrong has been tossed aside and instead a new mentality of pleasing others has arisen. Not only is this seen through the behaviors of people, but it has gone as far as denying one’s

“The Perils of Obedience” was written by Stanley Milgram in 1974. In the essay he describes his experiments on obedience to authority. I feel as though this is a great psychology essay and will be used in psychology 101 classes for generations to come. The essay describes how people are willing to do almost anything that they are told no matter how immoral the action is or how much pain it may cause.

Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and

Obedience and Conformity Both obedience and conformity involve social pressure in obedience the pressure comes from behaving as you are instructed to do; whereas in conformity the pressure comes from group norms Behaviour in obedience is determined by social power, whereas in conformity it is influenced mostly by the need for acceptance. In nearly all societies, certain people are given power and authority over others. Our society, for example, parents, teachers, and managers are invested with various degrees of authority. Most of the time, this does not cause any problems.

Obedience as an act can be traced back to the very beginnings of human history. The common belief has always been to obey authority at all cost. This act has never been questioned because authority corresponds to the common belief that respecting authority and obeying them will lead you to success in all aspects of life. Obedience is not defined to specific situations and its context can be portrayed in various ways. For example, Erich Fromm writes in his essay, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem; “Human history began with an act of disobedience, and it is not unlikely that it will be terminated by an act of disobedience.” This statement suggests that everything which we perceived to be

The three levels of obedience are explained by Dr. Maria Montessori after long observations of children of multiple ages in her classroom. She defines the three of obedience as first, an ability to obey, but not all the time. Secondly an ability to obey at all times after developing their own will. Finally being able to obey consistently, moreover to follow another person which the child has deemed superior to them self. Obedience is commonly defined as acting in accordance with the will of another person. She determined that children have an inherent force within them, termed Horme: a vital internal impulse to act upon ones

Imagine being in an authoritative position in a war. Sounds cool right? Now imagine if your subordinates didn’t follow the orders you put out to them. You just imagined chaos right? In my opinion there is no limit to the chaos that could happen if just one soldier didn’t follow the orders given to him/her. It doesn’t matter what the rank of the soldier is. Following orders in the armed

In society, obedience to authority is ingrained in humanity from an early age, causing some individuals to blindly obey orders without contemplating the credibility of the source. In psychoanalyst Erich Fromm’s article “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” he explains that throughout human history obedience has been associated with virtue and disobedience with sin (Fromm 127). Fromm suggests that our conscience is an internalized voice of authority (126). Fromm claims individuals need to distinguish the difference between rational and irrational authority because obedience is effective when individuals want to obey, instead of fearing to disobey (127). Two other authors who examine obedience are Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee

Obedience and Disobedience has been a part of key moments in history. Many have studied forms of obedience to learn how it affects people and situations. For example, Stanley Milgram conducted a well-known experiment in which the subject, named the “teacher” must shock the “learner” every time he doesn’t remember a word pair from a memory test. The focus of this study is on the teacher, and whether they will administer killing shocks when told to by an authority figure. Another well-known experiment is the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo. A group of college boys were separated into two groups, prison guards and prisoners, and were put

People have been changing their behavior or obeying someone else’s commands for years. This continues today in our everyday lives. Conformity and obedience seem similar but differ in several ways. Conformity is defined by psychologists as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. Similar to this, is obedience. Obedience is defined acting in accordance with a direct order or command. Normally people conform to reap a reward or to avoid punishment. If we comply with a direct order or command it is considered obedience. Most of the time when people comply, it is to be accepted among others so they are not seen as outsiders. On the other hand, when we obey, we are obeying a command an authority figure

It’s important to demonstrate obedience. Obedience is the act of being dutiful, or compliance with an order. Showing this quality displays respect, love and honor to people and things. When you are obedient, you demonstrate a good example for others to follow.

Almost immediately after Pentecost, we have a renew confrontation with the religious leaders (Chief Priest, the Scribes, Pharisees and the Sadducees) of the day and the disciples. Acts 5:17, “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,” We learn more details from the Greek when we dig into this text. “….they were filled with indignation” seems to be saying they are angry about some sort of unfair treatment but in reality this word indignation means more of jealousy and malice. This word could also be zeal had it been a favorable encounter. So with burning jealousy

Obedience is submit oneself to what God requires, it is an answer to His call regardless of the circumstances or the difficulties it may cause. Therese, in her