People have their own relationship with authority figures. I know I do! (tee hee) Some have compulsive reactions to an authority that may stem from childhood abuse, or go back even farther to an experience with persecution during a past life. Abuse of power is something we see every day in our modern world. We also see a variety of reactions to authority.
In the 1960s, a social psychologist named Stanley Milgram conducted research called The Obedience Study. One thing that became clear was the majority of people have a strong tendency to comply with authority figures. The volunteers were told they were participating in a study on the effects of punishment with regard to learning. Milgram assigned them the role of teacher. He gave instructions that each time the learner made a mistake, they were to flip a switch that would deliver an electric shock. The teachers were to increase the shock with every mistake. What they didn’t know was the teachers were the subject of the study, not the learners. The learners would act out great pain when the teacher would deliver the supposed shock.
Prior to the study, experts told Milgram that less than one percent would comply with giving the dangerous shock to the learner. In reality, two-thirds of the teachers delivered what they thought was the highest level of pain and distress to the learner. The study showed people will obey a command if they believe the authority figure is legitimate, even when it violates their own moral values. They will justify their action by assigning responsibility to the authority figure. People don’t want to be rude or offend the authority figure. A majority will feel compelled to follow a command from an authority in a process called entrapment, which to others might seem like a phenomenon. Let’s create a phenomenon with a whisper on authority figures.
A person who is obedient to an authority figure may feel unburdened by their own values. Humans learn through continuous entrainment of their conditions. If the conditions are persistent and manifest low motivation to create change, beliefs are formed along with a behavior of learned helplessness. Loss of any ability to control a situation can lead to submission and compliance as a way of being.
The victim mentality can become a mechanism for coping, along with complete avoidance of conflict or actions that seem contrary to the authority figure. A stubborn resistance to self-compassion perpetuates the behavior with a tendency to mentally justify complacency. A passive response to authority figures is enhanced by false beliefs and stress. This can occur despite any loss of morality or core virtues that could lead to standing up against the repeated suffering at the hands of others. Believing a situation cannot be controlled adds to the tendency to play it safe in most forums that include relationships, education, career, and health. Some become dedicated to their own ineptness and addicted to the conditions of fear and abuse.
To find balance in the face of authority, one must practice complete independence. Inner authority can surface for expression when engaging in activities that instill self-control, self-worth, self-compassion, and other core virtues. In the deepest chasms of the heart, you will find the wisdom synthesized from knowledge, the greater love you have been seeking, and the passion that fills the soul.
Bring joy, ease suffering and create beauty, then dance like you mean it!
Blessings, Russell
“That is what I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism: the conviction that the burden of proof has to be placed on authority,
and that it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met.”
Noam Chomsky
