Assertion: Evil acts are committed by those who submit blindly to authority. Therefore, under pressure, those who would not normally behave more aggressively or take a certain course action. Underlings are perpetrated to do and push boundaries farther than ordered to do so so under a system of hierarchy-- perhaps for fear of punishment.
Example: Phillip Zimbardo, a social psychologist at Stanford University, conducted an controversial role-playing experiment among students. Students were screened for psychological soundness and overall health and randomly assigned to roles of prison ward or prisoner. Zimbardo, who played the role of prison superintendent, in the experiment, did not expect the students to take on their roles as seriously and as readily as they did.
Explanation: Zimbardo halted the experiment after only six days once he realized the extreme amount of psychological pressure the students were subject to. Those assigned as prisoners accepted harassment passively from guards; and those who tried to halt the abuse were subject to more psychological torture such as solitary confinement. This displays how Zimbardo overlooked the effect of a hierarchy system on human behavior.
Significance: Submission to authority without question of motive can yield extremely dangerous circumstance. Throughout history humans have shown an incredulous capacity for evil. These are perpetuated by systems of power; subjects have even been reported even commit atrocities beyond what they have been ordered to carry out by their leaders. The Abu Gharib US Prison Raid at a Middle Eastern Prison is a stark reminder of what can happen given the right circumstances of people and power.










