Hello Reader,
Stanley Milgram was a Yale professor who conducted the Obedience to Authority experiments in the 1960s. Simply put, he ran a series of experiments in which the participants were supposed to help learners memorize a series of words. Every incorrect answer earned the learner electric shocks of increasing intensity. The supposed objective of the experiment was to understand the impact of punishment on a person's ability to learn. What the participants, or the teachers did not know was that the learners were part of the experiment, and that the electric shocks were not real.
Surprisingly, a large percentage of the participants (the teachers), would go on to fully obey the instructions to administer electric shocks to the learners, "with every participant going up to 300 volts, and 65% going up to 450 volts". A small minority of the people stopped the experiment midway, or refused to shock the learners after a certain point. Stanley Milgram repeated his experiment several times while controlling different variables. He found that the percentage of teachers refusing to give electric shock was higher if the experiment was not being conducted in a "respectable" Yale University lab, or if the learner was in the same room as them. Since then the Milgram Obedience experiment has been replicated several times, with fairly consistent results.
In his own words, Stanley Milgram said:
The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation. Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.
Why are we talking about this? Throughout this month we have been talking about authority, and our reaction to it. But what's the flip side of authority? Obedience? Defiance? Avoidance? Ignorance?
Our relationship with authority changes
Think about your own relationship with authority.
- How often have you gone ahead with a decision just because "it came from the top"?
- How often do you refrain from criticizing a nonsensical decision because you want to "go with the flow" or "be a team player"?
- Do you regularly challenge incomplete data or faulty assumptions, or do you "pick your battles"?
These examples may feel like hypothetical situations. Surely things would be different in real-life scenarios. Or perhaps they seem trivial. After all, we would know how to appropriately react to authority on the big questions, when it really matters. But these situations arise frequently in the workplace. And our response to them is consistently inconsistent. Don't believe me? Ask the woman executive who checks her tone, lowers her voice, smiles politely, and in general modifies her behavior to avoid being labeled "difficult". Ask the male executive who refuses to challenge his female boss to not appear as insubordinate or uncooperative.
Whether we acknowledge it or not, our relationship with authority is capricious at best. When we are younger, and unsure of ourselves, we rely on authority figures to inform us and guide us. Authority then is a guardrail that helps us feel safe when learning and doing new things. But only if we feel in control and submit to that authority willingly. When authority is forced upon us, contrary to our wishes, encroaching upon our autonomy, authority can feel oppressive.
And what about when we're the ones wielding the authority? When we're the ones responsible for taking the ultimate decisions, when there is no higher level, no safety in numbers...do we feel comfortable being the authority figure? Authority can feel risky in this instance, dangerous, a reason to stress rather than a source of power.
I feel that we have only just scratched the surface with this topic. Many of you have reached out to me to share your own experience (or misadventure) with authority. Thank you for taking the time to connect with me and for trusting me with your stories. Don't be surprised if we revisit this topic soon.
Until next month,
Anjani
Click below to download this month's coaching worksheet.
One last thought...
With his experiment Stanley Miligram was trying to understand if a majority of German citizens were simply following instructions and obeying authority during the holocaust. There are many detractors who argue that the premise of these experiments is not the same as the holocaust, and that they do not explain the actions leading up to the holocaust.
Questions of genocide aside, the experiment and the subsequent results hold many insights into our complicated relationship with authority. There is a fine line between commitment and compliance, as we already discussed in a previous newsletter, and somedays it's very difficult to find that balance. What do you think?
Did you catch all our posts on this topic? If not, here they are again:
Authority Trauma - Are you still responding to the authority in the room or the one in your memory? MOST READ (108 likes, 18 comments)
What’s the tag you’ve been carrying that limits your growth? (57 likes)
What will happen if you choose to change the relationship dynamics with your leader? (39 likes, 1 comment)
Which parts of our personality do you compromise to fit well with the authority figure? (83 likes, 6 comments)
How do you experience authority when you are closest to it? MOST RECENT (55 likes, 5 comments)
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