Legitimate authority is a concept that refers to the legitimate power or right to rule or make decisions within a social group or organization. This type of authority is based on a belief in the legitimacy of the person or group holding the authority, and it is often established through social norms, laws, or other forms of institutionalization.
In psychology, the concept of legitimate authority plays a significant role in how individuals perceive and respond to authority figures. For example, research has shown that individuals are more likely to comply with the requests of an authority figure if they believe that the authority figure has the right to make those requests. This is because individuals generally have a desire to conform to social norms and expectations, and authority figures are often seen as representatives of those norms and expectations.
The perception of legitimate authority can also be influenced by the level of trust and respect that individuals have for the authority figure. If an authority figure is seen as trustworthy and respected, they are more likely to be perceived as having legitimate authority. On the other hand, if an authority figure is seen as untrustworthy or disliked, their authority may be perceived as illegitimate.
There are several factors that can contribute to the perception of legitimate authority. One of these is the perceived expertise or knowledge of the authority figure. If an authority figure is seen as knowledgeable and competent in their field, they are more likely to be perceived as having legitimate authority. Additionally, the perceived fairness and consistency of the authority figure can also influence the perception of their authority. If an authority figure is seen as fair and consistent in their decision-making and treatment of others, they are more likely to be perceived as having legitimate authority.
The concept of legitimate authority is important in understanding how individuals perceive and respond to authority figures. It is also important in understanding how authority figures can effectively lead and make decisions within a group or organization. By understanding the factors that contribute to the perception of legitimate authority, individuals and organizations can work to establish and maintain a sense of legitimate authority and effectively lead and make decisions.
Hofling's Hospital Experiment of Obedience
Milgram 1963 examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II, Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Milgram studied the concept of obedience to authority and showed that people are willing to obey even when they are given orders to hurt their fellow human beings. Kelman has pointed to three processes that help overcome the normal human reluctance to hurt another person: authorization, routinization, and dehumanization. Read more Navigate Down Obedience: Social Psychological Perspectives T. In societies, the main purpose of obedience is to elicit peace and harmony within a society.
The Psychology Behind Why People Submit To Authority
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Persuasion is generally more effective if the source of influence has a degree of legitimate authority and power within the group see Leadership, Psychology of; Chemers 2001. Further, that influence was greater than were the effects of variations in the estimated probability of punishment. Think of it as the Goldilocks account of legitimacy: legitimacy as a claim-right that entails moral duty is too hard; legitimacy as mere liberty is too soft; legitimacy as a normative power that entails normative liability is just right. For example, in the case where a malware infection caused the system responsible for formulating a particular medication to produce an improperly mixed batch, we have several points at which we could assign blame. Yet a total of 636 participants were tested in 18 separate experiments across the New Haven area, which was seen as being reasonably representative of a typical American town. Permissive mothers tend define many issues that others would define as conventional or prudential as personal and thus set fewer rules. These views change very quickly as kids enter elementary school.
The Legitimate Authority Theory
The experiment was conducted at Yale University. Each subject was told that his task was to help another subject like himself learn a list of word pairs. If you found this article interesting please SHARE it and help spread the information. Realists challenge this view and argue that because trade and interdependence are usually asymmetrical they often contribute to conflict rather than deter it, either because states may be tempted to exploit their trading partner's vulnerabilities or because domestic groups vulnerable to external economic developments demand protectionist measures, which can lead to retaliatory actions, conflict spirals, and war. Milgram 1963 Audio Clips Milgram 1963 Audio Clips Below you can also hear some of the audio clips taken from the video that was made of the experiment.
Obedience & Authority in Psychology
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Although they are expert authorities with respect to you, neither your weather forecaster nor your physician has normative authority over you. Relationships are important in this interaction, but only so far as the leader can command obedience. This process is called entrapment, and it illustrates the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. An authority is legitimate only when it is a free group agent constituted by its free members. Some of the issues about obedience that authors Milgram and Baumrind differ on are authority to subordinate relationship, environment, and ethics.
The Idea of Legitimate Authority in the Practice of Medicine
He has already asserted that legitmacy is a key value. For example, when participants were reminded that they had responsibility for their own actions, almost none of them were prepared to obey. What is Legitimate Authority? Read more Navigate Down Towards an organisational theory for information professionals Arthur Winzenried,. The key to effective social regulation is recognizing that people's experiences with legal authorities not only shape their immediate compliance behavior, but also change their views about law and legal authorities in ways that lead to lasting compliance with the law. The most distinctive feature of the social-psychological approach to obedience is the primary role it accords to situational determinants. So we are exercising normative power, but it is the kind of power involved in ordinary consenting and promising.
