One of history’s most unsettling truths is that ordinary people have often participated in cruel acts when instructed to do so by authority figures. The classic study that illuminated this phenomenon is Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiment in the 1960s.

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment: In this study, participants were asked to administer what they believed were painful electric shocks to another person whenever that person answered a question incorrectly. Despite hearing cries of pain, 65% of participants continued administering shocks to the maximum voltage.
Key Takeaway: The experiment revealed a powerful lesson: many of us are inclined to obey authority—even against our moral instincts—under certain circumstances.

Psychological Mechanisms at Play

Authority Bias

People tend to assume that someone in a position of authority “knows better,” or at least has the right to make demands. Uniforms, titles, and expert status can amplify this bias. A common defense given by former Nazis accused of involvement in the Holocaust was that they were just following orders from their superiors.

Why It Matters Today

From school bullying to workplace misconduct—and even large-scale human rights violations—understanding the forces behind blind obedience helps us recognize when these influences creep into our own decisions. Awareness is the first step to resisting unethical orders and acting with integrity.

Fun Fact

When Milgrams's experiment was recreated in 2009, researchers found that people still obeyed at similar rates—even when they knew about the original study! This shows how deeply authority influences human behavior, even when we're aware of it.