Authority cannot exist without obedience. Society is built on this small, but important concept. Without authority and its required obedience, there would only be anarchy and chaos. But how much is too much, or too little? There is a fine line between following blindly and irrational refusal to obey those in a meaningful position of authority. Obedience to authority is a real and powerful force that should be understood and respected in order to handle each situation in the best possible manner.
To best understand how much pressure and stress can be caused by someone with authority, allow me to recount a personal experience. Sweating, I stood at attention in front of the flight Captain and my training instructor Staff Sergeant Garr. I wasn’t quite sure how I got here, and now I was being asked to lie to the highest ranking officer I had ever met. Two choices were available to me, lie and take ownership of the mistake, or stand by my principles and suffer the consequences. Let us start a little farther back in the story. I had joined the Air Force in May of 2004, and that same month I was sent to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Minneapolis, MN. This is where you are put through a battery of tests, ranging from tests measuring your physical capabilities to your ability to read aloud. It takes place over 2 days, and upon successful completion you are flown to San Antonio, TX to enter Basic Military Training.
Here, in BMT, I found myself, weeks later, being questioned by my Training Instructor about a discrepancy in my medical records. There is a test that is done before you leave for BMT, a simple test that measures your ability to lift deadweight from the ground to above your head, known as the X-Factor. SSgt Garr h...
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...xander, and Stephen Reicher. “Beyond Stanford: Questioning a role-based explanation of tyranny.” Bulletin of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. 18 (2003): 22-25.
Milgram, Stanley. “The Perils of Obedience.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum”. 9th ed. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rose. New York: Longman, 2005. 313-324.
Szegedy-Maszak, Marianne. “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum”. 9th ed. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rose. New York:Longman, 2005. 302-304.
Zimbardo, Philip G. “The Stanford Prison Experiment.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum”. 9th ed. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard Rose. New York: Longman, 2005. 344-355.
While having too much authority can lead to complication and dilemmas, too little authority can lead to an overthrow of leaders in a situation. Authority is like a ticking time
Obedience may be a simple word, yet it has a powerful impact on the daily lives of millions. Obedience is simply when one follows the orders or directions of another figure, presumably in an authoritative position. This is something nearly everyone bows to everyday without even realizing it - and it can drastically change our lives as we know it. Obedience is, for example, how the holocaust happened. The Germans were ordinary people turned into murderers because they followed the orders of one man - their dictator, Adolf Hitler. Of course, obedience does not always result in horrid results such as the holocaust or result in such a large catastrophe. Obedience can have drastic effects on the lives of only a few men as well; this is showcased in the movie A Few Good Men.
Stanley Milgram’s experiment shows societies that more people with abide by the rules of an authority figure under any circumstances rather than follow their own nature instinct. With the use of his well-organized article that appeals to the general public, direct quotes and real world example, Milgram’s idea is very well-supported. The results of the experiment were in Milgram’s favor and show that people are obedient to authority figures. Stanley Milgram shows the reader how big of an impact authority figures have but fails to answer the bigger question. Which is more important, obedience or morality?
It just goes to prove that obedience is ingrained in us all from the way we are raised. We are raised to listen to our elders in the family situation or individuals in authority in the school and workplace situations (McLeod).
Obedience is the complying of demands of others, usually those in positions of authority (Brace and Byford). The studies of obedience by Milgram (1963) and Hofling et al (1966) are one of the most famous studies in psychology. Milgram began the study to explore whether Adolf Erichman, one of the Nazi leaders involved in the holocaust, was an evil man or just being obedient (Brace and Byford). Hofling 's study started subsequently after Milgram to further explore obedience in a real life scenario. The results of these studies were truly surprising, but there were differences in ethics, methodology validity and results in which will be explored in this essay. (The Open University, 2016)
The word freedom is often associated with the idea of an unfettered liberty to select from a range of alternatives coupled with a sense that our actions will not affect our natural state.
Intolerance of Authority Versus Individual Freedom and Integrity. “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller is a play, about the Salem Witch. Trials. The.
In the Army every soldier will take at least four physical fitness tests a year. After each physical fitness test you will be weighed. Usually right after the physical fitness test you will get your height and weight. The taller you are the more you can weigh. Age is another a factor that can affect how much you can weigh. So if you meet your height and weight standards you do not need to go into the Army’s over weight program. Though if you go over your allotted weight you have to be tapped. Meaning you take the measurement of the neck and abdomen for males and the neck, abdomen, and buttocks for females. Then you take the two or three measurements and get the percentage. If the percentage is over the soldiers allotted amount he or she is now over weight and has to go into the program. As a supervisor you need to know where to tape and how to get the percentage because this is a very important event that can ruin a soldiers car...
Most people would like to think that they would never do anything to intentionally hurt another human being. However history has shown that human nature does not always prevail with the best outcomes. The following experiments and real life events all reflect that human beings succumb to obedience even when common sense tells them that what they are doing is wrong. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment, Milgram’s electric shock study, and the scandal surrounding Abu Ghraib are reflections on the outcome of obeying a command regardless of the results and why someone would do so.
Obedience to authority can explain many wrong decisions in humans’ history. For me it is more a fear to be punished by the authority than to be afraid of this person. It is more appropriate for people who know their authority to use it in inspiration and supporting someone’s ideas and behavior.
Someone has always been there to tell you what to do in life. As a young child, you were told to behave properly and not to eat too many sweets. As you grew older and older, it seemed as if the responsibilities became greater and greater in number. Even as an adult, there was always an officious boss telling you what to do. There was always some higher force that bound your actions. Authority was the major theme in the novel 1984, by George Orwell. Authority was also a profound factor in Stanley Milgram’s experiment conducted in 1974. It seems that authority has been around longer than any of us can remember, and it is authority that dictates the way we act.
“Authority cannot afford to connive at disobedience” writes Sophocles in Antigone. This is also a central concern to Aristotle who establishes the importance of ‘Authority’ in the opening lines of his treatise Poltics:
Beginning in kindergarten, young children around the age of five would disrespect their parents and teachers because they would not know better. Later, beginning in the adolescent years, young adults would just push aside all authority in general to show that they do not wish. Eventually, by the time men and women would become full adults, they would begin to violate laws and regulations set by others, even the omnipotent government. Why do people rebel against authority?
The concepts of obedience and disobedience are evident from the beginning of one 's life. Young children are born with the tendency to do things that are against what they are told or what they know they should do. They don 't have to learn how to disobey; it is an innate behavior. This struggle between obedience and disobedience carries on throughout our lives. There are three major factors that can cause obedience and disobedience; authority, social pressure, and situations. Each of these vastly impact an individual 's behavior and cause them to act in ways they would normally not.
When power becomes legitimate, it is then recognized as authority (Denhardt et al, 2001). Power becomes authority when it is accepted and even desired by society. As stated by the course study notes, “authority refers to a situation where a person (or group) has been formally granted a leadership position”. An individual has authority when everyday norms and regulations support the exercising of power by that individual. In an organizational setting, “authority is hierarchal and vested in positions” (Week 9 Study Notes), which are defined by “organizational charts, positions and rules” (Week 9 Study Notes). Generally, power in authority also involves the possibility of rewards such as promotions and good performance reviews.