title: Defying Unjust Authority: An Exploratory Study.
abstract: This research explores the psychological factors potentially involved in fostering disobedience to an unjust authority. Our paradigm was modeled after that of the Utrecht Studies on Obedience (Meeus and Raaijmakers European Journal of Social Psychology 16:311-324, 1986) in which participants are ordered to give each of 15 increasingly hostile comments to a participant/victim whenever he fails a trial. Although 30% of our sample followed commands to insult the other participant (confederate), the majority did refuse to do so at some point in the escalating hostility sequence. Our procedure utilized conditions known from prior research to increase the ratio of disobedience to obedience: proximity of teacher to learner plus remote authority. In order to better understand some of the cognitive and affective processes that may predict such defiant behaviour, we utilized a variety of measures, among them, behavioural observations, individual difference assessments, and in depth post-experimental interviews.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bocchiaro
authors.forename: Philip G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Zimbardo
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1963 Oct;67:371-8
references.pmid: 14049516
references.citation: Am Psychol. 2009 Jan;64(1):1-11
references.pmid: 19209958
references.citation: Arch Psicol Neurol Psichiatr. 1968 Jul-Aug;29(4):340-72
references.pmid: 5702566
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1974 May;29(5):696-702
references.pmid: 4833430
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1972 Aug;23(2):175-83
references.pmid: 5047387
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1977 Jul;35(7):530-6
references.pmid: 894485
references.citation: Psychol Rep. 1977 Jun;40(3 Pt 2):767-70
references.pmid: 866515
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1975 Nov;32(5):880-92
references.pmid: 1185517
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1966 Aug;4(2):195-202
references.pmid: 5969145
references.citation: Perspect Psychol Sci. 2008 Jul;3(4):301-4
references.pmid: 26158949