Obedience to Authority

Main Ideas

• Milgram's Experiment: A study where participants, obeying authority, performed actions that contradicted their moral beliefs.
• Obedience to Authority: People tend to comply with figures of authority, even if it goes against their personal values and ethical standards.
• Agentic State: A condition where individuals see themselves as instruments for carrying out orders, thus absolving themselves of responsibility for their actions.
• Ethical Dilemmas: The experiment sparked widespread discussions about the ethics of conducting such studies and their impact on participants.
• Social Influence: The study demonstrated how strongly social environment and authoritative figures can influence human behavior.
• Dehumanization: The process by which people begin to perceive others as less human, making it easier to commit cruel actions against them.
• Diffusion of Responsibility: People tend to shift responsibility for their actions onto authoritative figures, allowing them to justify their behavior.