Authoritarianism - Psychological Explanations For Authoritarianism

Psychological Explanations For Authoritarianism

With the decline of authoritarianism as a legitimate method of government after World War II and the commencement of the Nuremberg Trials in Germany, psychologists from around the world began to ask questions as to how individuals from Germany and other authoritarian states were compelled to commit crimes against humanity.

One experiment by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram attempted to answer whether or not accomplices in the Holocaust were acting with a shared sense of morality (i.e. All accomplices believed that the individuals in the Holocaust deserved to die) or if they were acting according to the situations they were exposed to (i.e. Soldiers, expected to follow orders, did so, even if those orders directly contradicted their personal beliefs). The initial results of the Milgram experiment identified that 65% of its participants would lethally harm another human being if they were ordered to do so. Variations of this experiment were conducted around the world with similar results. Milgram hypothesised that these results were due to two separate factors:

• The theory of conformism', an individual who has no ability or expertise to make decisions will leave decision making to the group. And,
• The agentic state theory, whereby a person views him/herself as an agent for the execution of another person’s will. Due to this, the individual no longer identifies himself as being responsible for his actions.