Why Do We Obey Authority Figures?
Reasons as to why people obey authority figures.
- Created by: Amelia Stamp
- Created on: 11-03-13 18:57
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- Why do we obey?
- Legitimate Authority
- We think that their authority status gives them the right to exert control over us.
- The authority figures role could be defined by society or the situation. e.g. doctor in a hospital or scientist in a lab.
- We feel obligated to obey those in power because they respect their credentials and assume they know what they're doing.
- Buffers
- Something that offers some sort of protection from consequences.
- Milgram suggests that buffers act as mechanism to help people reduce the strain of acting in an immoral way and therefore increases obedience.
- A buffer could maybe be when you cannot see the consequences of your actions. e.g. dispatching a cruise missile- they are protected (buffered) from seeing the consequences.
- The Agentic State
- A person becomes the 'agent' of another persons wishes (those of the authority figure)
- This state allows people to feel like they are not responsible for their own actions.
- People then can place responsibility for their actions upon the authority figure who gave the order. this increases obedience.
- Gradual Commitment
- Once someone complies with a trivial, seemingly harmless request they find it hard to refuse to carry out more serious, escalating requests.
- Each request is a small step further than the last so people may feel like it's 'not a big deal'
- They become committed and move from doing reasonable requests to things that are completely unacceptable without noticing.
- The Authoritarian Personality
- People who have strict parents who used harsh, physical punishments often grow up to be obedient (Adorno).
- They develop an authoritarian personality which means that they have an extreme respect for authority and feel hostility to those of a lower rank.
- Authoritarian personality is measured using the 'F scale'.
- Legitimate Authority
- The authority figures role could be defined by society or the situation. e.g. doctor in a hospital or scientist in a lab.
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