Obedience to Authority: The Dangers of Compliance

What is this page about?

An explainer of obedience to authority, centred on Stanley Milgram's 1961-62 Yale experiments in which ordinary people administered what they believed were dangerous shocks under an experimenter's instruction. It details the proximity, legitimacy, and peer-pressure variations, the mechanisms (moral disengagement, situational framing), four case studies (a Holocaust reserve police battalion, the My Lai massacre, Enron, and medical compliance), Arendt's banality of evil, the replication record (Burger, Blass, Gina Perry's archival critique), and the conditions for disobedience.

What has been corrected on this page?

Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.

1. 11 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

   Hofling et al. (1966) was published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, per the article's own reference list.

   Before

   In a 1966 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Charles Hofling and colleagues

   After

   In a 1966 study published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Charles Hofling and colleagues

   Why: Corrected journal misattribution: Hofling et al. (1966) was published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, per the article's own reference list. Verified already live in body content and bibliography; FAQ had no mention of this study.

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