Analysis Of If Hitler Asked You To Electrocute A Stranger, By Philip Meyer

In the Article by Philip Meyer’s “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably” discusses the Milgram experiment, and the readiness to obey authority without question.

Milgram’s experiment basically states, “Be that as it may, you’d still probably commit heinous acts under the pressure of authority.” He also, found that obedience was the highest when the person giving the orders was nearby and was perceived as an authority figure, especially if they were from a prestigious institution. This was also true if the victim was depersonalized or placed at a distance such as in another room. Subjects were more likely to comply with orders if they didn’t see anyone else disobeying if there were no role models of defiance.

This experiment does not allude that people would take pleasure in doing it, but that they would merely do it. As Meyer explains, “The subjects who gave the shocks…did not enjoy it. Nonetheless, the pressure of the experimenter and wanting to be a good subject justified their actions.

In the end, Milgram path-breaking work sheds some seriously harsh light on the enormous power of two of the key cornerstone topics of social psychology; social influence and conformity.

The fact is that we all conform to some sort of social norm such as following a dress code or obeying traffic lights. But overall, conformity best describes how we adjust our behavior or thinking to follow the behavior or rules of the group we belong to.

For instance, I recall working for a company where our boss would continually ask another employee to order items unrelated to company use. The employee knowing that this violated policy and procedures the employee did it anyway, for fear of losing his job. The boss always made it known, that he would punish whistleblowers and reward obedient compliers. Therefore, knowing that, ordering the merchandise using company funds for the bosses’ personal use was, not only morally wrong but against policy, the employee felt obligated to be obedient and comply with what was asked of him.

Given these points, society's pressure constantly influences us on things that conflict with our morals every day. Although it may be true that group behavior is powerful, just remember so is the individual choice.