Book Reading #36: Obedience to Authority

Reference Information

Title: Obedience to Authority

Author: Stanley Milgram

Publisher: 2009 Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Chapter 9: Group Effects
Summary
This chapter discussed how having the subject within a group situation affected obedience. More experiments occurred with this variation, including having 2 peers rebel against the authority and different shock levels and having a peer administer the shocks. Generally, the actions of peers seemed to influence the subjects to follow the peers' actions.

Discussion
I thought this result was to be expected. Peer pressure tends to be fairly strong, so if the subject was among other "subjects", they would be more likely to follow the peers' actions since they would suggest the appropriate action to take for that particular social situation.

Chapter 10: Why Disobedience? An Analysis
Summary
This chapter analyzed the composition of obedience, describing it as an evolved feature necessary for survival. The cybernetic viewpoint was considered, whereby an evolving organism moves from autonomous functioning to a capacity for functioning within an organization. In addition, the hierarchical structure of authority was examined, including the need for an inhibitory mechanism to maintain social order. Finally, the agentic shift was described, whereby the autonomous agent is integrated into the hierarchy of authority.


Discussion
This chapter was really boring and difficult to get through, as it suggested models for describing obedience and authority in a purely theoretical way. Although I agree that the defined terms and theories did help to understand the basis of authority and obedience.

Chapter 11: The Process of Obedience: Applying the Analysis to the Experiment
Summary
This chapter discussed how the theories in the previous chapter related to the actual experiment, serving to analyze the results found in the experiments. Antecedent conditions were described, being the conditions under which a person will move from being an autonomous individual to the agentic state of being under someone else's authority (includes family, institutional settings, and rewards). Consequences and binding factors (what keeps a person in the state of obedience). The agentic state was better defined, as well.

Discussion
This chapter seemed a lot like the previous chapter, although I found the properties that lead a person to the agentic state and the factors that keep them there to be very interesting. In particular, the binding factors seemed to be a good explanation for why an individual would not disobey in the experiment, despite common belief.
Chapter 12: Strain and Disobedience
Summary
This chapter defined strain and how it links to obedience, including the factors within the experiment that generate strain (cries of pain from the victim, administering pain), and how such strain could be reduced or resolved (disobedience, avoidance, denial, subterfuge, physical conversion, dissent). Ultimately, disobedience completely resolves the strain created by the experiment.

Discussion
I found this discussion of strain within the experiment to be particularly interesting. I would not think that disobedience would completely remove strain, so I thought it was interesting that the author believed it would.

Chapter 13: An Alternative Theory: Is Aggression Key?
Summary
This chapter discussed the possibility of aggression being the cause of obedience instead of the need to obey an authority. The idea is that people would take advantage of the situation, seeing it as an opportunity to cause harm to another without breaking social contracts due to its contributions to science. Ultimately, the author proves that this is not case citing evidence from the experiments, including the fact that when given the choice of shocking strength, most people would use the lower levels.

Discussion 
I agree that aggression should be considered as a cause of obedience, but it seems that, for the most part, it was not the case. Milgram presented many instances from the experiments where violence did not seem to be the cause of action, and they all seemed to be plausible.

Chapter 14: Problems of Method
Summary
This chapter discussed criticisms that the public had with the experiment, including the claims that the people that were studied were atypical, they didn't believe they were administering actual shocks, and that it is not possible to generalize from the lab to the real world. However, the author presented refuting arguments for each of these claims, using experimental evidence from both his experiment and others to prove they were false. Finally, the author compared the findings of his experiment to Nazi Germany.

Discussion 
The criticisms listed were problems that I also thought of while reading about the experiment, but I agree that, after having read the results and the author's claims, the criticisms seem to be false.