According to Weber, there are three types of authority: traditional, charismatic, and rational. Traditional authority usually comes from tradition and customs. An example would be the son of a king to be next in line to be the heir. Charismatic authority is focused on an individualistic level based on the characteristics of the person. Personally, a charismatic authority would be President Obama because of how he is able to persuade the audience based on his speech about his plans for his people. And lastly, rational authority has to do with rules and regulations. It can be seen in practice in laws that are issued by the government or as a simple as the rules of a game of chess.
It took a while for me to think what to write my blog but I kept repeating the word authority over and over again. Then it came to me that authority was exposed to me before in the Psychology field. My blog will discuss about power and authority seen in a psychology experiment. The Milgram experiment was conducted in July 1961 by a Yale University psychologist named Stanley Milgram. The purpose of this experiment was to measure the willingness of the subject to obey the experimenter who instructs him/ her or to do something that may conflict their personal conscience.
The experiment involved three different participants who each had a distinct role and task to complete. The first participant is the one who conducts the experiment and also plays the role as an authoritative figure. The second participant, the subject of the experiment, is the volunteer whose role is to obey the orders of the experimenter. And lastly, the third participant is an actor who pretends to be the recipient of the stimulus done by the second participant.
The procedure of this experiment is stated as followed. The subject was to give simple memory tasks to the actor. If the actor answered the memory task correct, the subject would continue on to the next memory task. If the actor fails to repeat the task the subject has to administer a shock. The voltage then must be increased in increments of 15 volts after each mistake the actor does. The actor pretends as if he/she is being shocked and starts banging against the wall. While banging, he screams and lies that he has a heart condition in order for the subject to feel consciously bad. Little does the subject know that there are no actual shocks being given to the actor. Most of the subjects hesitated to continue but the experimenter would state that they HAD to continue and had no other CHOICE but to continue. The subject would obey the experimenter and continue on with experiment.
I believe that the Milgram experiment is a perfect example of rational authority and some characteristics of charismatic authority. It can be seen as rational authority because there are rules set and there is a positional authority, the one conducting the experiment. The subject knew obligations of the experiment therefore they have to obey. The subject obeys the experimenter because the experimenter is seen as an authoritative figure. There is somewhat of domination and discipline because the subject willingly obeys and automatically follows the rules. It can also be seen as charismatic authority because although the subject wants to dismiss from the experiment the experimenter persuades and sets a tone for them to continue. The subject believes in the experimenter that he/she will be penalized for shocking the actor who has a “heart condition.” Overall, obedience and discipline is a necessary ingredient for society to function.
It took a while for me to think what to write my blog but I kept repeating the word authority over and over again. Then it came to me that authority was exposed to me before in the Psychology field. My blog will discuss about power and authority seen in a psychology experiment. The Milgram experiment was conducted in July 1961 by a Yale University psychologist named Stanley Milgram. The purpose of this experiment was to measure the willingness of the subject to obey the experimenter who instructs him/ her or to do something that may conflict their personal conscience.
The experiment involved three different participants who each had a distinct role and task to complete. The first participant is the one who conducts the experiment and also plays the role as an authoritative figure. The second participant, the subject of the experiment, is the volunteer whose role is to obey the orders of the experimenter. And lastly, the third participant is an actor who pretends to be the recipient of the stimulus done by the second participant.
The procedure of this experiment is stated as followed. The subject was to give simple memory tasks to the actor. If the actor answered the memory task correct, the subject would continue on to the next memory task. If the actor fails to repeat the task the subject has to administer a shock. The voltage then must be increased in increments of 15 volts after each mistake the actor does. The actor pretends as if he/she is being shocked and starts banging against the wall. While banging, he screams and lies that he has a heart condition in order for the subject to feel consciously bad. Little does the subject know that there are no actual shocks being given to the actor. Most of the subjects hesitated to continue but the experimenter would state that they HAD to continue and had no other CHOICE but to continue. The subject would obey the experimenter and continue on with experiment.
I believe that the Milgram experiment is a perfect example of rational authority and some characteristics of charismatic authority. It can be seen as rational authority because there are rules set and there is a positional authority, the one conducting the experiment. The subject knew obligations of the experiment therefore they have to obey. The subject obeys the experimenter because the experimenter is seen as an authoritative figure. There is somewhat of domination and discipline because the subject willingly obeys and automatically follows the rules. It can also be seen as charismatic authority because although the subject wants to dismiss from the experiment the experimenter persuades and sets a tone for them to continue. The subject believes in the experimenter that he/she will be penalized for shocking the actor who has a “heart condition.” Overall, obedience and discipline is a necessary ingredient for society to function.