Which researcher is associated with obedience to authority?

Which researcher is associated with obedience to authority?

• A. Muzafer Sherif
• B. Kurt Lewin
• C. Muzafer Osgood
• D. Stanley Milgram

Answer: (D)

Obedience to authority is shown when people follow commands from an authority figure even if those commands go against their own morals or cause harm. Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments at Yale in the early 1960s are the clearest demonstration of this phenomenon. In the setup, participants believed they were teaching a learner and delivering increasingly painful electric shocks for incorrect answers, all under the directive of an authoritative experimenter. Despite clear distress from the learner, many participants continued to follow the instructions and administer higher voltages, trusting the authority to guide them. This work revealed how the perceived legitimacy and proximity of an authority can push people to obey, sometimes overriding personal conscience. Other researchers cited are known for different lines of inquiry. Muzafer Sherif studied how group norms form and how intergroup conflict can arise, while Kurt Lewin explored field theory and leadership styles, showing how social situations shape behavior. The name not primarily linked to obedience studies doesn’t capture the same famous connection to obedience to authority. So, the figure most associated with obedience to authority is Stanley Milgram.

Obedience to authority is shown when people follow commands from an authority figure even if those commands go against their own morals or cause harm. Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments at Yale in the early 1960s are the clearest demonstration of this phenomenon. In the setup, participants believed they were teaching a learner and delivering increasingly painful electric shocks for incorrect answers, all under the directive of an authoritative experimenter. Despite clear distress from the learner, many participants continued to follow the instructions and administer higher voltages, trusting the authority to guide them. This work revealed how the perceived legitimacy and proximity of an authority can push people to obey, sometimes overriding personal conscience.

Other researchers cited are known for different lines of inquiry. Muzafer Sherif studied how group norms form and how intergroup conflict can arise, while Kurt Lewin explored field theory and leadership styles, showing how social situations shape behavior. The name not primarily linked to obedience studies doesn’t capture the same famous connection to obedience to authority. So, the figure most associated with obedience to authority is Stanley Milgram.