How To Say No To Corrupt Authority

If you read the article How To Appear More Authoritative, the Milgram Experiment would tell you that most people are willing to do anything on the command of an authority.

The experiment showed that 63% of the participants obeyed an order to deliver the maximum electric shocks to persons whom they could hear crying out in pain.

Many of the participants were convinced of the wrongness of their action, protested and were angry at the experimenter but they couldn’t bring themselves to defy authority.

The question now is would you obey commands that conflict with your conscience? Would you be able to defy authority when obedience means hurting another person?

Why do most people obey orders blindly

Many of us have been faced with situations where we think it wrong to obey some order and yet we get afraid to disobey because we think disobedience would get us into trouble. Which would satisfy you more? Doing your job as it is required of you? Or doing the right thing?

Psychologist Stanley Milgram says that only few people have the resources needed to resist authority when they are ordered to carry out an action that contradicts the basic standards of morality even when they can clearly see the harmful effects of that order.

Let us take a look at what one of the participants, named Gretchen Brandt, did to defy the corrupt authority.

Experimenter: It’s absolutely essential that we continue.

Brandt: I’d like you to ask him. We came here of our free will. If he wants to continue, I’ll go ahead. He told you he had a heart condition. I’m sorry I don’t want to be responsible for anything happening to him. I wouldn’t like it for me either. (see also How to be assertive)

Experimenter: You have no other choice.

Brandt: I think we are here on our own free will. I don’t want to be responsible for anything that happens to him. Please understand that.

She refuses to obey and the experiment comes to an end.

What Did Brandt Do Differently?

Milgram says that the participants fear that they will appear arrogant, unpractical and rude if they defy the orders. Although these feelings may appear silly in comparison to making a person suffer, it was found that people would rather obey a corrupt order than disappoint the figure of authority.

Because the participants usually have feelings of respect for the figure of authority, they like the feeling they get from pleasing the experimenter. They feel pride or guilt depending on how well they can perform the actions commanded by the authority.

Our observation of Brandt’s behavior could tell us how she could make disobedience a simple and rational thing. Brandt was:

1)Firm and Determined: She sticks to her belief that they are participating of their own free will and doesn’t change her mind even when the order is repeated. (see also Being assertive)
2)Responsible: She is not concerned about fulfilling her obligations to authority but rather feels responsible for the well-being of the person who is affected by her actions
3)Calm and Controlled: Her disobedience is not expressed with tension or rudeness.
4)Straightforward: She doesn’t fear being judged as softhearted and uncooperative, she recognizes the suffering person as a human being and admits her compassion for him.

How To Defy Corrupt Authority

Which would you be more obedient to? Your superiors? Or to the values that tell you not to hurt anyone who is helpless and not hurting you?

Blind obedience means viewing yourself as the tool for carrying out another person’s wishes and thus you no longer regard yourself as responsible for your actions. You feel obliged to the authority directing you but you don’t feel responsible for the actions that authority dictates. (see also How to be in control of your thoughts)

Don’t think of authority as the cause of your actions because you are the master of your own behavior. If you blindly obey orders without consulting your own conscience, you will end up being no more than a mindless robot with no free will.

Here is what you can do to diplomatically disobey an order:

1) Deal with your insecurities: Are you afraid to be judged? Do you put much weight to what people think of you? Do you rather do the wrong thing than do something that doesn't appeal to people? If that's the case then you need to deal with your insecurities in order to be able to stand for what you believe in
2)Avoid Physical Confrontations: Research has shown that disobedience is much easier when orders are given by telephone. If you can make your point using the phone then its gonna be easier for you.
3)Higher Authority: If the orders of a higher authority contradict the orders of the authority that you don’t want to obey, then disobedience would be easy. One of the smart moves you can do is to develop good connections with higher authorities so that you can find a way out in such situations
4)Find Other People Who Think Like You: In the above mentioned experiment, when two actors disobeyed the experimenter, thirty six out of forty participants joined their disobedient peers and refused as well. It would be very smart to first find out the people who share the same opinion with you before you start to rebel against corrupt authority

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