Question

Can you please give me a good question that I can present to my class on Social Obedience? It has to be a question that the class can have a conversation about. Please give answer also.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Question – Throughout history, it has been noticed that authoritative and oppressive rulers have subjugated, repressed and even tortured individuals and groups within societies who have been against them. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini are examples of such authorities.

It is clear that such men have psychological issues and the privilege of absolute power that brought them to do such things. However, if it were just one ruler with no military, guards or brute forces, it would have been very difficult and nearly impossible for such rulers to gain power and prominence.

This question focuses on the men that comprised of the military might that these rulers would boast. Do you think that these men carried out the works of the people like Hitler because they shared his beliefs? Do you think they were socially obedient simply because they were ordered to do so?

Answer – Stanley Milgram was a psychologist who wanted to study what permitted World War 2 officials to commit acts of genocide. He, therefore, went to Nuremberg prison and questioned some of these officials. Most of them admitted having committed these acts as obedience to the authority of Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Before Milgram’s study, it was assumed that these war criminals were psychopaths to have inflicted pain on their victims. However, after the experiment, it was found that these mend committed those acts as a behaviour that was influenced by authority.

This is why it is said to have had a powerful influence. The prisoners were possibly individuals just like everyone else, except that their behaviour was heavily influenced or coerced by authority.

The kind of behaviour an individual is ready to succumb to if “their group is doing it”, will be dependent on the pressure they face, the inherent personality of the individual and the value of what they might lose if they don’t submit to group behaviour.

For instance, if a large mob forces one to do something as opposed to a group of 4, it is more likely that the person might succumb. Also, if a person is an anarchist and a non-conformist of sorts, they might never adhere to group behaviour unless their principles validate that behaviour. Thirdly, if they do not participate in the behaviour and the price to pay for not participating is big, like they might lose their job, it is likely that they might participate.

Therefore, there are several factors, most of which are personal, as to why an individual might be influenced by a group.