Obedience/Conformity to Legitimate Authority Figures

For my module 5 react post, I spoke about a qualitative research paper I completed for my undergraduate degree. My paper discussed obedience to authority figures; for my paper, I used Stanley Milgram’s experiment as my primary inspiration. The fundamental question I attempted to answer was: why do individuals obey orders they know are wrong? In addition, I explored why individuals may obey/conform to orders that make them feel uncomfortable. 

As this course draws to a close and I think about what I have learned, I reflect on my paper. With my newfound understanding of trauma, I think about how obedience to authority and exploitation of authority can lead to trauma. In my paper, I examined conformity in work environments and how one’s relationship with their superior may influence their level of conformity. I focused primarily on orders or requests that the employee explicitly knows are wrong. For example, maybe their superior asked them to do a task that cuts a corner and violates the policy; or, their superior constantly asks them to stay later or lock up by themselves. Simple everyday orders that are wrong, yet are still obeyed. 

I found that most people obey/conform simply to maintain a harmonious relationship. A subordinate remonstrating against their superiors’ orders would most likely cause some rift in the relationship which could have undesirable effects on their day-to-day work experience. Unfortunately, I was not able to explore how this principle of maintaining harmony could intertwine with trauma. At the Nuremberg trials, many soldiers maintained that they were simply following orders. These orders came from individuals they viewed as a legitimate authorities. For Milgram, the subjects in his experiments followed orders because it came from a person of legitimate authority (a doctor in a white lab coat). 

Following this course, I would have liked to explore the exploitation of authority and conformity through the lens of sexual misconduct, especially in workplace and home environments. Oftentimes superiors are able to use their positions to exploit others. While interning at the special victims unit, countless cases I read involved a child and someone they trusted (parent, family friend, teacher, etc). Time and time again, people in trustworthy/powerful positions are able to use their “legitimacy” to exploit others. Milgram found that individuals enter into two states of behavior when depending on the social setting, autonomous and agentic states. In the autonomous state, individuals will carry out their own actions while also taking responsibility for those actions. In the agentic state, individuals will take a back seat and allow others to direct their actions, individuals will also allow others to shoulder the responsibility or consequences of those actions. Milgram believed that people will obey authority under the assumption that the person giving the orders will bear the responsibility for their actions

 

References: 

Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 5: Trauma, Genocide, and the Holocaust. Blackboard

 

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