"This rich volume explores the complex problem of obedience and conformity, re-examining Stanley Milgram's famous electric shock study, and presenting the findings of the most extensive empirical study on obedience toward authority since Milgram's era. Dolinski and Grzyb refer to their own series of studies testing various hypotheses from Milgram's and others' research, examining underlying obedience mechanisms as well as factors modifying the degree of obedience displayed by individuals in different situations. They offer their theoretical model explaining subjects' obedience in Milgram's paradigm and describe numerous examples of the destructive effect of thoughtless obedience both in our daily lives as well as in crucial historical events, stressing the need for critical thinking when issued with a command. Concluding with reflections on how to prevent the danger of destructive obedience to authority, this insightful volume will be fascinating reading for students and academics in social psychology, as well as those in fields concerned with complex social problems"--

A part of Harper Perennial’s special “Resistance Library” highlighting classic works that illuminate our times: A special edition reissue of Stanley Milgram’s landmark examination of humanity’s susceptibility to authoritarianism. “The classic account of the human tendency to follow orders, no matter who they hurt or what their consequences.” — Washington Post Book World In the 1960s, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram famously carried out a series of experiments that forever changed our perceptions of morality and free will. The subjects—or “teachers”—were instructed to administer electroshocks to a human “learner,” with the shocks becoming progressively more powerful and painful. Controversial but now strongly vindicated by the scientific community, these experiments attempted to determine to what extent people will obey orders from authority figures regardless of consequences. “Milgram’s experiments on obedience have made us more aware of the dangers of uncritically accepting authority,” wrote Peter Singer in the New York Times Book Review. With an introduction from Dr. Philip Zimbardo, who conducted the famous Stanford Prison Experiment, Obedience to Authority is Milgram’s fascinating and troubling chronicle of his classic study and a vivid and persuasive explanation of his conclusions.

Sergeant William Calley's defense of his behavior in the My Lai massacre and the widespread public support for his argument that he was merely obeying orders from a superior and was not personally culpable led Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton to investigate the attitudes toward responsibility and authority that underlie "crimes of obedience"--not only in military circumstances like My Lai but as manifested in Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the Kurt Waldheim affair. Their book is an ardent plea for the right and obligation of citizens to resist illegal and immoral orders from above.

This edited volume demonstrates the vibrancy of the obedience paradigm by presenting 1990s' applications of the findings of Stanley Milgram's earlier research programme on obedience to authority.

This rich volume explores the complex problem of obedience and conformity, re-examining Stanley Milgram’s famous electric shock study, and presenting the findings of the most extensive empirical study on obedience toward authority since Milgram's era. Dolinski and Grzyb refer to their own series of studies testing various hypotheses from Milgram’s and others’ research, examining underlying obedience mechanisms as well as factors modifying the degree of obedience displayed by individuals in different situations. They offer their theoretical model explaining subjects’ obedience in Milgram’s paradigm and describe numerous examples of the destructive effect of thoughtless obedience both in our daily lives as well as in crucial historical events, stressing the need for critical thinking when issued with a command. Concluding with reflections on how to prevent the danger of destructive obedience to authority, this insightful volume will be fascinating reading for students and academics in social psychology, as well as those in fields concerned with complex social problems.

This rich volume explores the complex problem of obedience and conformity, re-examining Stanley Milgram's famous electric shock study, and presenting the findings of the most extensive empirical study on obedience toward authority since Milgram's era. Dolinski and Grzyb refer to their own series of studies testing various hypotheses from Milgram's and others' research, examining underlying obedience mechanisms as well as factors modifying the degree of obedience displayed by individuals in different situations. They offer their theoretical model explaining subjects' obedience in Milgram's paradigm and describe numerous examples of the destructive effect of thoughtless obedience both in our daily lives as well as in crucial historical events, stressing the need for critical thinking when issued with a command. Concluding with reflections on how to prevent the danger of destructive obedience to authority, this insightful volume will be fascinating reading for students and academics in social psychology, as well as those in fields concerned with complex social problems.

This compelling work brings together an array of distinguished scholars to explore key concepts, theories, and findings pertaining to some of the most fundamental issues in social life: the conditions under which people are kind and helpful to others or, conversely, under which they commit harmful, even murderous, acts. Covered are such topics as the complex interaction of individual, societal, and situational factors underpinning good or evil behavior; the role of guilt and the self-concept; and issues of responsibility and motivation, including why good people do bad things. The volume also examines whether aggression and violence are inescapable aspects of human nature, and how cooperative interaction can break down stereotyping and discrimination.