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Insight Horizon Media

What is destructive obedience

Author

Michael Henderson

Published May 01, 2026

[1] Destructive obedience is defined as following an order that is either illegal or falls into a regulatory grey area or causes moral scruples.

What is destructive obedience in social psychology?

compliance with the direct or indirect orders of a social, military, or moral authority that results in negative outcomes, such as injury to innocent victims, harm to the community, or the loss of confidence in social institutions.

What is obedience and how it is different from destructive obedience?

Obedience is the act of compliance to the commands of a legitimate authority. In destructive obedience the acquiescence is to a command to harm another person.

Why does destructive obedience occur?

Destructive obedience is the act of obeying a command to harm another. This type of obedience is seen in criminal relationships, sometimes influenced by substance abuse, where one partner has immense emotional sway over the other.

What is unconscious obedience?

Conscious and unconscious obedience Act according to orders from authority. By demonstrating you are complaint you are showing that you are obedient and following orders as instructed.

What was Milgrams conclusion?

Milgram found that all of the real participants went to at least 300 volts and 65% continued until the full 450 volts. He concluded that under the right circumstances ordinary people will obey unjust orders.

How does authority affect obedience?

Obedience is a form of social influence that involves performing an action under the orders of an authority figure. … Instead, obedience involves altering your behavior because a figure of authority has told you to.

What is constructive obedience?

compliance with the orders of a social authority that results in some benefit to the compliant individual or the larger society of which he or she is a part. Compare destructive obedience. …

What is social laziness?

Social loafing describes the tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group. Because all members of the group are pooling their effort to achieve a common goal, each member of the group contributes less than they would if they were individually responsible.

What are the factors affecting obedience?

Factors That Increase Obedience The experiments were done at a prestigious institution. The authority figure was present in the room with the subject. The learner was in another room. The subject did not see other subjects disobeying commands.

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Why is Milgram experiment important?

These experiments laid the foundation for understanding why seemingly decent people could be encouraged to do bad things. … Blass states that Milgram’s obedience experiments are important because they provide a frame of reference for contemporary real-life instances of extreme, destructive obedience.

Why do we obey Milgram?

Why is it so many people obey when they feel coerced? Social psychologist Stanley Milgram researched the effect of authority on obedience. He concluded people obey either out of fear or out of a desire to appear cooperative–even when acting against their own better judgment and desires.

What is the Milgram shock experiment?

The Milgram experiment(s) on obedience to authority figures was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. … Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a “learner”.

How does culture affect obedience?

Cross cultural studies of obedience found rates of obedience similar to those of Milgram. The United States had an obedience rate of 61% and the mean across other cultures was about 66%. … Culture and social norms shape perspectives of authority, obedience and interact with individual decision making.

What is the difference between obedience and compliance?

Unlike obedience, in which the other individual is in a position of authority, compliance does not rely upon being in a position of power or authority over others. Compliance involves changing your behavior in some way because someone else requested you to do so.

What is obedience psychology?

Psychologists have typically defined obedience as a form of social influence elicited in response to direct orders from an authority figure.

What is the obedience alibi?

The ‘obedience alibi’ Milgram’s ndings from his variations support a situational explanation of obedience. The proximity of experimenter, teacher and learner, the location of the study, and the presence of a uniform are all factors within the situation that in uence obedience.

What is blind obedience in the public services?

Blind obedience- This is to carry out orders unquestioningly and without thinking of the questions, However the problem with this is knowing when to speak out when nessacary at which point do you ask yourself, do you stop obeying and see if the order is correct.

Why might we resist pressures to obey?

One reason that people can resist the pressure to conform or obey is if they have an ally, someone supporting their point of view. Having an ally can build confidence and allow individuals to remain independent. … Furthermore, individuals who have support for their point of view are more likely to disobey orders.

What does the Bible say about obedience?

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 sums it up like this: “Obey and you will be blessed. Disobey and you will be cursed.” In the New Testament, we learn through the example of Jesus Christ that believers are called to a life of obedience.

How do you make someone obedient?

To be obedient to someone you need to act like you respect them as an authority figure. When they tell you to do something, you do it, as long as it is reasonable, moral and harmless. Be polite and considerate. Say “please” and “thank you”.

How was deception used in the Milgram study?

Ethical Issues. Deception – the participants actually believed they were shocking a real person and were unaware the learner was a confederate of Milgram’s. However, Milgram argued that “illusion is used when necessary in order to set the stage for the revelation of certain difficult-to-get-at-truths.”

Is Milgram's study Generalisable?

Findings: 65% of pp’s gave shocks to 450v. All pp’s gave shocks to 300v. Conclusion: People will obey an authority figure even when this causes harm to another individual. Generalisability: As onlymale pp’s were used, and it took place in American, the findings cannot be generalised to other cultures and to women.

What did Milgram's obedience study show?

The Milgram experiment suggested that human beings are susceptible to obeying authority, but it also demonstrated that obedience is not inevitable.

What causes Socialloafing?

Social loafing refers to the concept that people are prone to exert less effort when working collectively as part of a group compared to performing a task alone. … Factors influencing social loafing include expectations of co-worker performance, task meaningfulness and culture.

What is the Deindividualization?

Douglas | View Edit History. deindividuation, phenomenon in which people engage in seemingly impulsive, deviant, and sometimes violent acts in situations in which they believe they cannot be personally identified (e.g., in groups and crowds and on the Internet).

What is group thinking in social psychology?

groupthink, mode of thinking in which individual members of small cohesive groups tend to accept a viewpoint or conclusion that represents a perceived group consensus, whether or not the group members believe it to be valid, correct, or optimal.

What does conforming to society mean?

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms, politics or being like-minded. … People often choose to conform to society rather than to pursue personal desires – because it is often easier to follow the path others have made already, rather than forging a new one.

Which is the best definition of conformity?

Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. … Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield, 1955). Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc.

Is the tendency to change one's attitude or behavior to match a perceived social norm?

Conformity is the tendency to change one’s attitude or behavior to match a perceived social norm.

How do individual differences affect obedience?

Likely link with Obedience: The more authoritarian the personality, the greater the shocks administered. … Likely link with Obedience: Those with internal locus of control will be more likely to be defiant, those with external locus of control will be more likely to be obedient.