OBEDIENCE: To Authority is “Shocking”

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

QUESTION EVERYTHING?

By Staff Reporters

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Question: Why do we follow orders, even when they seem wrong?

According to colleague Dan Ariely PhD, Obedience to Authority is a powerful force, making us do things we wouldn’t normally do. Think of the infamous Milgram experiment, where people shocked others because a guy in a lab coat told them to do so. It’s our brain’s way of outsourcing decision-making to someone else. While it can keep society orderly, it also explains why people sometimes follow questionable orders.

Cite: https://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html

Milgram’s experiments posed the question: Would people obey orders, even if they believed doing so would harm another person?

Milgram’s findings suggested the answer was yes, they would. The experiments have long been controversial, both because of the startling findings and the ethical problems with the research. More recently, experts have re-examined the studies, suggesting that participants were often coerced into obeying and that at least some participants recognized that the other person was just pretending to be shocked. Such findings call into question the study’s validity and authenticity, but some replications suggest that people are surprisingly prone to obeying authority.

So, question authority [doctor, financial advisor, accountant, clergy, professor and lawyer, etc] – just not your GPS.

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