During the Nuremberg trials, many observers were stunned that seemingly ordinary people had been capable not only of cruel acts but also of obeying orders without question. In their defense, many of the accused claimed that they were merely following orders. For social psychologists, the question was: How far can our willingness to obey others’ instructions influence our behavior? It had already been shown that a desire to conform within groups can override our personal ethics, so it seemed probable that obedience could have an equivalent effect.
In a famous series of experiments, Stanley Milgram found out that all the people would administer painful electric shocks if they were told to do so. The uncomfortable conclusion of these and similar experiments is that humans are susceptible to following orders of those who hold power over them. Obedience is taught to children from an early age and learned by society at large. And it is so embedded into us that we cannot resist following the orders of those who hold authority over us.
