The Impact of Authority on Human Behavior

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The perceptions of authority, whether held by oneself or others, can impact on the way in which an individual behaves. The writer looks at two well-known experiments undertaken under the banner of social psychology to assess the impact of authority on behavior. The first studies examined are the Milgram experiments, which tested the impact of perceived authority on choices made by individual subject that authority. The second study examined, which is more controversial, is the Stanford prison experiment; this is utilized to study the way in which granting of authority to individuals may impact the way that they treat others. Three sources are cited in the bibliography of this four page paper.