Table : TABLE 12.5
Resisting an Authority’s Unacceptable Orders
  • Verify your own discomfort by asking yourself, “Is this something I would do if I were controlling the situation?”

  • Express your discomfort. It can be as simple as saying, “I’m really not comfortable with this.”

  • Resist even slightly objectionable commands so that the situation doesn’t escalate into increasingly immoral or destructive obedience.

  • If you realize you’ve already done something unacceptable, stop at that point rather than continuing to comply.

  • Find or create an excuse to get out of the situation and validate your concerns with someone who is not involved with the situation.

  • Question the legitimacy of the authority. Most authorities have legitimacy only in specific situations. If authorities are out of their legitimate context, they have no more authority in the situation than you do.

  • If it is a group situation, find an ally who also feels uncomfortable with the authority’s orders. Two people expressing dissent in harmony can effectively resist conforming to the group’s actions.

Sources: Information from American Psychological Association, 2005b; Asch, 1956, 1957; Blass, 1991, 2004; Haney & others, 1973; Milgram, 1963, 1974a; Zimbardo, 2000a, 2004a, 2007.