Obedience with Authority

Asch, Solomon. “Opinions and Social Pressure.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Columbus, OH: Pearson, 2013.
Print. 655-659.

According to the article “Opinions and Social Pressure”, Solomon Asch writes about how the affects of group pressure can alter a person’s decision. During the investigation, Asch describes how everyone in the group agrees with the answer that they have chosen except for one in which the author calls him the “dissenter (Asch 656)”. Solomon Asch stated that the person who disagreed to the answer quickly became “more and more worried and hesitant as the disagreement continues in succeeding trials (Asch 656).” The dissenter is placed a position where he has to choose the correct answer as a minority of one and this eventually clouded his judgment, which caused him to choose many answers incorrectly. The assumption of that the author has made is that when a person is standing alone without succumbing to the majority tends to have their minds alter due to the social pressure.

The author believes that social pressure can strongly influence a person’s judgment due to the consensus of the majority. This article does line up to the other articles because it talks about how society can redirect a person’s mind. I would use this in my paper because it explains the human behavior that everyone can relate to.

Brooks, David. “The Follower Problem.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Columbus, OH: Pearson, 2013.
Print. 649-651.

According to David Brooks, his claim is about how modern society do not know how to properly think about how power should be used to bind and build. Brooks believes that Lincoln and Jefferson embodied how strong and powerful a person should be instead we have leaders now that are incapable of becoming great leaders. The assumptions David Brooks had made were about how authority was different back in the days and how it has digressed now.

David Brooks argument was effective because he believe that leadership not the main problem, but the followership in America today. This article correlates with Stanley Milgram “The Perils of Obedience” article. Unfortunately, this article will not help me with my research paper because it does not provide me with enough evidence to help support my research.

Lessing, Doris. “Group Minds.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Columbus, OH: Pearson, 2013. Print. 723-725

In the article, “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing implies that groups can easily encourage many individuals and this can be prevented since we all know how our minds work. If we can understand that concept then we can learn how to avoid it and live more freely. Lessing gives only a couple of examples about three sticks and one control group. Lessing believes that humans are more capable of following rather than standing out. In Lessing’s article, her beliefs were not effective because she did not provide enough examples to back up her thesis. Lessing’s argument is in line with Solomon Asch’s entitled “Opinion and Social Pressure” where he focuses on how group functions. This is article will not be used in my research paper because it does not provide enough supporting details.

Milgram, Stanley. “The Perils of Obedience” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Columbus, OH: Pearson, 2013.
Print. 630-643.

Stanley Milgram’s thesis is about how having authority can make or break you. Milgram design an experiment that force participants to neglect their conscience by obeying the higher authority and immoral demands. The assumption that Milgram made was how obedience is the foundation is about having a structural social life and without it a person’s conscience can be altered easily.

This author’s argument is very effective because he provided many evidence throughout his article about how people’s conscience is manipulated due to the power of them tormenting the people in the electric chair. “The Peril of Obedience” relates to the article “The Follower Problem” because they both talk about having the authority that can change the minds if others. I can use this in my research due to many of the examples that are given.

Ross, Lee & Nisbett, Richard. “The Power of Situations.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Columbus, OH: Pearson, 2013. Print. 627-629.

Authors Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett’s claim of this article is about how social psychology is not what everyone thinks it is. Nisbett and Ross stated that students who enroll in social psychology are so eager to learn about human behavior that all they really doing is sitting in a classroom gossiping about people and different social interactions and having students as the audience. Nisbett and Ross tells us about the scenario where the students have to predict John’s reaction to the man who slumped in a doorway. By trying to predict his next action plan, the students were trying to find out John’s personality because by trying to find out more about him, it can help them predict what john will do next.

Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett argument is affective because it explains how humans act can powerfully influence their behavior. This article does correlate to the other articles because it talks about human behavior and how we act and feel can alter our decisions. I will use this in my paper because this article is relatable to a lot of readers.