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RE: People Still Obey Authority to Harm Others, Shows a New Milgram Experiment Study
Sad, that people remain automatons... interesting about the regional nature of this study. Given that humans tend to be "social" creatures, this makes me wonder whether any studies have ever been done (specifically) on the fear of social ostracision vis-a-vis questioning authority... we see these experiments, but I wonder to what degree it is "authority, itself" that makes people comply, vs "the fear of being judged by peers" for having defied authority.
Sorry, it's Sunday... my mind wanders aimlessly...
If there are no peers around, then I would say it's more the fear of punishment from an external authority that has powers we ourselves don't have. Peers don't have special powers like that, so I think authority might supersede in importance even if both are present in some cases. Some people might lean towards peer identification and loyalty in defiance to authority though, not in contrast to peer judgment alone, but coupled with loyalty would certainly make a strong case to win in many people's lives.
What made me ponder it was studies in which it was revealed (observing people hooked up to fMRI equipment) that when people experience shame and humiliation, it activates the same parts of our neural nets as when experiencing extreme physical pain (from, for example, electric shock or torture). Of course, the correlation may be coincidental...