Obedience Authority
Obedience Authority - Related Videos
02:20
Milgram's Obedience to Authority
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2020
Obedience to authority is classically demonstrated in a more famous series of social psychology experiments performed by Stanley Milgram. He was a social psychology professor at Yale who was influenced by the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal. Eichmann’s defense for the atrocities he committed was that he was “just following orders.” Milgram’s Experiments Milgram (1963) wanted to test the validity of this defense, so he designed an experiment and initially recruited 40 men for his...
01:08
Obedience
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2020
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation, obedience...
12:14
A Duplex Digital PCR Assay for Simultaneous Quantification of the Enterococcus spp. and the Human Fecal-associated HF183 Marker in Waters
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Cited by 14 •
2016
This manuscript describes a duplex digital PCR assay that can be used to simultaneously quantify Enterococcus spp. and the HF183 genetic markers as indicators of general and human-associated fecal contamination in recreational waters.
01:30
Peer Review Explained
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2026
Peer review is a central quality-control process in academic publishing. Before research is shared with the scholarly community, experts in the relevant field evaluate manuscripts to ensure that the findings are accurate, original, and methodologically sound. This review process helps maintain the reliability of the scientific record and reinforces trust in published literature. Submission and Editorial Screening The process begins when an author submits a manuscript to an academic journal. The...
08:00
Screening for Endocrine Activity in Water Using Commercially-available In Vitro Transactivation Bioassays
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Cited by 12 •
2016
A protocol to screen for endocrine activity in organic extracts of water samples, including treated wastewater effluent and surface (receiving) water, was adapted using commercially available division-arrested ("freeze and thaw") in vitro transactivation bioassays.
FAQs
Authority signals can make an instruction appear legitimate, informed, or socially expected. When a person views the authority figure as responsible for the situation, the command may seem easier to justify and harder to challenge. These perceptions help explain why the same instruction can produce different responses depending on who gives it and how that person’s role is understood.
People may distance themselves from the consequences of an action when they regard the authority figure as responsible for directing it. This shift can weaken personal resistance because the individual interprets compliance as carrying out another person’s decision rather than making an independent choice. Examining responsibility attribution therefore helps clarify how harmful behavior can occur under authority.
Situational pressure can make refusal feel difficult, especially when surrounding expectations support following the instruction. Group norms provide cues about what behavior appears acceptable or required, while the immediate context shapes how legitimate the command seems. Obedience research therefore considers social surroundings alongside individual judgment rather than treating compliance as a fixed personal characteristic.
Controlled studies examine how people respond to commands under systematically arranged conditions, allowing researchers to consider the effects of perceived legitimacy, context, and responsibility. Such research focuses on compliance with instructions and the circumstances that increase or reduce resistance. Its value lies in connecting observable behavior with broader processes of social influence and group conduct.
Findings about legitimacy, responsibility, and situational pressure can help institutions examine how instructions are communicated and followed. In education and organizations, this perspective supports attention to group norms and authority relationships. In professional ethics, it encourages clearer consideration of personal responsibility when individuals receive directions, particularly when those directions may produce harmful consequences.
Understanding the mechanisms behind obedience can help identify situations in which perceived legitimacy, social pressure, or transferred responsibility discourages resistance. Prevention efforts can then focus on recognizing problematic authority dynamics and reinforcing personal accountability. This psychological perspective is relevant wherever people must evaluate instructions rather than automatically accept authority as sufficient justification for action.