Obedience (human behavior)

Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of "social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure".^[1] Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which some authors define as behavior influenced by peers while others use it as a more general term for positive responses to another individual's request,^[2] and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority. Depending on context, obedience can be seen as moral, immoral, or amoral. For example, in psychological research, individuals are usually confronted with immoral demands designed to elicit an internal conflict. If individuals still choose to submit to the demand, they are acting obediently.^[3]

Humans have been shown to be obedient in the presence of perceived legitimate authority figures, as shown by the Milgram experiment in the 1960s, which was carried out by Stanley Milgram to find out how the Nazis managed to get ordinary people to take part in the mass murders of the Holocaust. The experiment showed that obedience to authority was the norm, not the exception. Regarding obedience, Milgram said that "Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the man dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, through defiance or submission, to the commands of others."^[4] A similar conclusion was reached in the Stanford prison experiment.

^ Colman, Andrew (2009). A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199534067.
^ Hogg (2010). "Influence and Leadership". In Fiske (ed.). Handbook of Social Psychology (2 ed.). Wiley. pp. 1166–1207.
^ Haslam; Reicher (2017). "50 years of "obedience to authority": From blind conformity to engaged followership". Annual Review of Law and Social Science. 13: 59–78.
^ Milgram, S. (1963). "Behavioral study of obedience". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67 (4): 371–378. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.599.92. doi:10.1037/h0040525. PMID 14049516. S2CID 18309531.

[1] Colman, Andrew (2009). A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199534067.

[2] Hogg (2010). "Influence and Leadership". In Fiske (ed.). Handbook of Social Psychology (2 ed.). Wiley. pp. 1166–1207.

[3] Haslam; Reicher (2017). "50 years of "obedience to authority": From blind conformity to engaged followership". Annual Review of Law and Social Science. 13: 59–78.

[Milgram2-4] Milgram, S. (1963). "Behavioral study of obedience". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67 (4): 371–378. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.599.92. doi:10.1037/h0040525. PMID 14049516. S2CID 18309531.

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