Psychological Processes that May Be Involved in Obedience...

Psychological Processes that May Be Involved in Obedience to Authority Obedience is the following of someone elses instructions or orders to do something. The instructions are usually from someone who has authority such as a parent or teacher. Milgram proposed the agentic state theory; this is where we act as an agent of someone who has authority, it means that we find it easy to deny personal responsibility for our actions because we have just been following orders or doing our job. In 1950 Adorno expressed his beliefs that personality was a better explanation of obedience. Adorno believed that some people have an Authoritarian Personality, this means that they are likely to be obedient yet†¦show more content†¦c) Briefly outline some of the procedures used in social influence research (theories and/or studies) and evaluate whether these processes are ethical. Social influence has been investigated by a large number of psychologists such as Asch, Zimbardo and Milgram. There have been many issues raised by other psychologists as to whether the procedures that they used were ethically questionable. This means that the research wasnt carried out in an ethical way and so they have caused themselves much criticism. In 1951 Solomon Asch tried to find out if people would conform in highly unambiguous situations. Asch did this by setting up a circumstance where seven people all sat looking at a display. In turn they had to say out loud which one of three lines was the same length as line X. All but one of the participants was a confederate of the experimenter, and on some vital trials the confederates were asked to unanimously give the same wrong answer. The one genuine participant was the last to offer their opinion on each trial. The performance of participants exposed to such group pressure was compared to their performance in a control cond ition in which there were no confederates. Despite Aschs findings he was criticised for the way that he carried out his experiment, Asch undertook this study in 1950s America, this was a time when conformity was high and doing yourShow MoreRelatedWhat Social Psychological Factors Play a Role in Determining Whether a Person Conforms, Complies and Obeys?1019 Words   |  5 Pagesto determine what each of these social processes mean, in order to understand which psychological factors are involved. Conformity is a behavioural change in response to social pressure, either real or imagined. Compliance is a behaviour change in response to an explicit request to perform an action. Obedience is a behaviour change in response to a demand or order to carry out an action. Each of these processes are undertaken due to different psychological pressures being put on the individual, fromRead MoreDisobedience Vs Obedience1700 Words   |  7 PagesIn society, obedience to authority is ingrained in humanity from an early age, causing some individuals to blindly obey orders without contemplating the credibility of the source. In psychoanalyst Erich Fromm’s article â€Å"Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,† he explains that throughout human history obedience has been associated with virtue and disobedience with sin (Fromm 127). Fromm suggests that our conscience is an internalized voice of authority (126). Fromm claims individuals needRead MoreThe Milgram Experiment ( 5 W S And How )?1354 Words   |  6 Pagesorders? Could we call them all accomplices? (Milgram, 1974). It is this underlying question that supported the entire experiment, essentially a study focusing on the conflicts between obedience to authority and personal conscience. As in, would you harm a person if you were told to do so by someone with high authority? The experiments began in July of 1961, at Yale University, when Milgram began a search for participants, by publishing a short advertisement in a newspaper. After finding his 40 maleRead MorePersonal Knowledge And Knowledge Of The Humanities And The Arts1348 Words   |  6 Pagesacross disciplines. This essay explores the areas of knowledge of the Humanities and the Arts, demonstrates that shared knowledge influences personal knowledge and then discusses the claim that shared and personal knowledge are actually inseparable and may as well be one and the same thing. What is shared knowledge? It is the common knowledge that most people agree on and it can travel across cultures. Such knowledge is assembled by a group of people for example most subject disciplines like ChemistryRead MoreSocial Psychology2623 Words   |  11 Pagesstated that the three areas of social influence are obedience, compliance and conformity. Raven (1992) asserted that it is human nature to obey to rules and regulations set by higher authority, to conform to group norms and to comply with requests. Moghaddam (1998) defines obedience, as an actions carried out by commands, showing that it is requested by authority, or from someone whom is perceived to be of authority (i.e., Parents, teachers, authority by appointment, spiritual leaders etc.). Read MoreDefine And Describe Social Psychology Essay1999 Words   |  8 Pageson information concerning with the way these feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and goals are constructed and how such psychological factors, in turn, influence our interactions with others. Some topics examined in social psychology include: the self-concept, attitudes, social cognition, attribution theory, social influence, group processes, interpersonal processes, aggression, attitudes and stereotypes. I will focus on self-concept, attitudes, the social cognition and the attribution theoryRead MoreJuveniles As A Victim Of A Crime Essay1570 Words   |  7 Pagesthese children, and how to properly communicate with them. These children involved in crimes often will testify in court, be interviewed, and on occasion be interrogated for crimes. Law officers today need to be aware of these differences with juveniles and have the skills necessary to communicate with these individuals in the interrogation and interviewing settings. Juveniles and Crime Today, many juveniles are becoming involved in crimes, whether it be the victim of a sexual assault or a suspectRead MoreThe Line Between Good And Evil In Philip Zimbardos The Lucifer Effect1185 Words   |  5 Pagescoined the idea, presented the ideas behind why people change and turn evil even if though their whole life they were not known as an evil person. According to Zimbardo, people turn evil for one of two reasons; The Lucifer Effect and the seven social processes that grease the slippery slope of evil (TED Talks). Philip Zimbardo ran an experiment at the time that he was a graduate teacher at Stanford University. This experiment became known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. This experiment began withRead MoreDevelopmental Psychology : Understanding And Theoretical Understanding1573 Words   |  7 Pagesthe different reason for these changes. Developmental psychology consists of topics like the duration to which maturity happens over the continuous growth of understanding in contrast with phase progress. Many developmental psychologies are involved in the effect among particular characteristics, how a person acts, and surrounding elements as well as social environment and the effect that it has on development. In this field the psychologists look at the differences that happen as developingRead MoreObedience : A Moral Virtue1786 Words   |  8 PagesObedience: a moral virtue which society places significant importance to, for to obey is â€Å"as basic an element in the structure of social life† (Milgram, 1963). Yet, such a virtue possesses a dark side as well coined as â€Å"destructive obedience† by Stanley Milgram. It is defined as â€Å"a set of behaviours of uncritical acceptance of immoral or illegitimate requests by an authority† (Pozzi et al, 2014, p. 19). Evidence of this is omnipresent in the history of mankind, as was seen prominently in the Second