On the dynamics of disobedience: experimental investigations of defying unjust authority

Abstract

Across six Experimental conditions with university student participants (N=600), we examined some of the dynamics underlying expressed defiance to unjust authority. Results revealed disobedience was best enacted by participants low in right-wing authoritarianism and was more likely to occur when: 1) in physical proximity of other rebels, 2) the authority made two demanding requests instead of one, and 3) there had been an earlier opposition to injustice. Results are discussed within the theoretical framework of bounded rationality.

Video abstract

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Keywords:

• defiance
• unjust authority
• obedience
• disobedience

Supplementary material

On arriving at the laboratory, each participant is greeted by an experimenter dressed in formal attire and displaying a rather authoritarian, stern manner. He presents the cover story:

In the study today you will be asked to write a simple statement that, hopefully, will convince students to take part in my research. I am using this strategy because, as you might know, people are not so willing to take part in certain research, and mine is one of these.

I am investigating the effects of sensory deprivation on brain function. Recently I conducted an experiment on six subjects, in Rome, who spent 24 hours completely isolated unable to see or hear anything. There were dramatic and unexpected effects on participants: all of them panicked, some experienced visual and auditory hallucinations. I did not stop when a couple of participants who felt bad asked me to do so, because such a decision would have implied collecting invalid data.

Now, my aim is to start to collect data in a month here at the University of Palermo. This time, I would like to use a different sample, college students, who will be sensory deprived for a much longer period, 72 hours instead of 24. It is difficult to predict what will happen, and in all honesty I am a little worried myself but… if I were to put the safety of a human being in one pan of the scales and my career in the other, this latter would certainly carry the greater weight.

Although we scientists have the duty to inform participants of foreseeable risks associated with the study, I need to find people… so I will just tell potential participants how exciting a sensory deprivation experience could be. You will help me with this by writing an enthusiastic message. This message, along with a few others from your fellow students, is going to be published as a testimonial in our University newspaper.

I’ll be back. (The experimenter out for 2 minutes. Time for the participant to think about what is going on.) So please follow me, you can use one of our computers to write the statement. (Second room.) Of course you have to be “enthusiastic” in writing the statement; also, try to imagine what expressions could be more persuasive for your peers. (In the computer screen, participants found this: “Please follow these instructions: your statement must contain at least one of these words: “exciting”, “incredible”, “great”, “superb”; also, make sure to not mention the potential negative effects of sensory deprivation). You have to follow these instructions, so use at least one adjective among “exciting”, “incredible”, “great”, “superb”: these are the words that work better in an advertisement. Be careful to not mention the negative effects of sensory deprivation.

The participant was then left alone for 5 minutes, after which the experimenter reentered the room with a woman introduced as a colleague, and he then left the scene. This second psychologist completed the procedure by administering the Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale followed by an extensive debriefing.

Acknowledgments

Palo Alto University and Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education helped to fund this research project.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.