First, in many situations, the persons in authority relieve those who obey of the responsibility for their own actions. ‘I was only carrying out orders’ is the defines many offer after obeying harsh or cruel commands. In life situations, this transfer of responsibility may be implicit, the person in charge (e.g. the mainly or police officer) is assumed to have the responsibility for what happens. In Milgram’s experiments, thus transfer of responsibility was explicit.
Second, persons in authority often possess visible badges or signs of their status. They wear special uniforms or insignia, have special titles, and so on. These serve to remind many persons of the social norm ‘Obey the persons in charge.’ This is a powerful norm and when confronted with it, most people find it difficult to disobey. / person of authority.
A third reason for obedience in many situations in which the targets of such influence might otherwise resist involves the gradual escalation of the authority figure’s orders. Initial commands may call for relatively mild actions, such as merely arresting people. Only later do orders come to require behavior that is dangerous or objectionable. / Consistency.
Finally, there come many situations involving destructive obedience move very quickly demonstrations quite suddenly turn into riots, arrests into mass beatings or mass murder. / Group influence.
In sum, the high levels of obedience generated in Milgram’s studies are not as mysterious as they may seem. A social psychological analysis of the conditions existing both there and in many real situations identifies several factors that together may make it very difficult for individuals to resist the commands they receive. The consequences of course, can be truly tragic or innocent and often defenseless victims.
