Book Reading #37 - Obedience to Authority

Summary:
Ch 9
Milgram discusses the differences between conformity, imitation, and obedience, hierarchical. Conformity is more implicit in its actions where obedience is more explicit. It then describes the experiments done with the teachers and shocking. This is shown in the museum exhibit where patrons follwed the instructions of only walking on the black tiles.

Ch 10
The root of obedience is sought in this chapter and also describes agentic state which is the condition a person is in when they see themselves as an agent carrying out another's wishes. This is seen in the shocking experiment where participants do as they are told while checking with the experimenter.

Ch 11
Milgram digs deeper to study the factors that impact a subject before experiments. Things such as their family structure, settings and environment, and reward system are analyzed. There is also an analysis when the subject is in the middle of an experiment to look at factors such as perception of authority figures, the appearance of authority, and the lack or excess of authority. It also discusses the famous prison experiment.

Ch 12
This chapter takes a look at disobedience. This is a way people release stress from strain by denying authority and becoming disobedient. Disobedience is a mechanism for avoiding or denying strain.

Ch 13
This chapter deals with aggression and different experiments conducted on the subject.


Ch 14
Discusses the findings of all his experiments indicating that all subjects met the typical expected findings and that they could be applied out of a laboratory setting.

Discussion:
The experiments and observations made are very shocking but this book intrigued me so much i could not put it down. I enjpyed this read and Milgram's experiments.