Authority and Ethical Compliance
This week you read about several experimental and historical examples of when people were observed acting against their own will or conscience, given the right set of circumstances. There are also plenty of historical examples of those in power who took advantage of individuals’ obedience and conformity to social pressures or the pressures of authority.
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Select 1 of the social experiments that you read about this week (Zimbardo, Asch, Milgram) and identify a current event or situation that similarly illustrates obedience and conformity. Like the social experiments you studied, the event you choose should also raise questions of ethics.
a 1,050- to 1,400-word that includes the following:
Authority and Ethical Compliance
- Compare and contrast the experiment you selected with the contemporary situation.
- Identify the social roles of participants and what behaviors reflect those roles.
- Examine the specific behaviors of the participants.
- Discuss the internal and external consequences of the participants’ behaviors, for example, shunning, passivity, degradation, and insolence.
- Explain how social roles in the contemporary situation resulted in the outcome.
- Describe a realistic alternative scenario that could have resulted in a different, more ethical outcome for this situation. Relate this alternative scenario to a concept in social psychology.
Include a minimum of 3 sources.
Authority and Ethical Compliance
Introduction
Obedience and conformity to authority are powerful social forces that can lead individuals to act against their own moral judgments. Milgram’s famous obedience experiment revealed how ordinary people could inflict harm when ordered by an authority figure. Similarly, the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, illustrates how social roles and pressures contributed to unethical and illegal behavior. This essay compares Milgram’s experiment with the Capitol riot, analyzes participant behaviors and social roles, examines the consequences, and explores an alternative, more ethical scenario informed by social psychology.
Comparing Milgram’s Experiment and the Capitol Riot
Milgram’s experiment involved participants (the “teachers”) instructed to administer electric shocks to a “learner” under the guidance of an authoritative experimenter. The shocks were fake, but participants believed them real, testing obedience to authority even when it conflicted with conscience.
The Capitol riot involved thousands who stormed the U.S. Capitol building, responding to calls from political leaders and social pressures within the crowd. Participants acted collectively, breaking laws and threatening democratic processes, largely influenced by perceived authority figures and group conformity.
Both situations highlight obedience to authority but differ in scale and context. Milgram’s was a controlled lab experiment focused on individual obedience; the Capitol riot was a mass social event with complex group dynamics and political motivations………………………..
