Authority Relationship From a Societal Perspective: Social Representations of Obedience and Disobedience in Austrian Young Adults

摘要

Obedience and disobedience have always been salient issues for both civil society and social psychologists. Since Milgram’s first studies on\uddestructive obedience there has not been a bottom-up definition of what obedience and disobedience mean. The current study aimed at\udinvestigating the social representations young adults use to define and to co-construct knowledge about obedience and disobedience in\udAustria. One hundred fifty four (106 females, 68.8%) Austrian young adults (Mean age = 22.9; SD = 3.5) completed a mixed-method questionnaire\udcomprising open-ended questions and free word associations. Overall obedience and disobedience are respectively defined as conformity\udand non-conformity to regulations, ranging from implicit social norms to explicit formal laws. Authority is multi-faceted and has a central role\udin orienting obedience and disobedience. Further fundamental determinants of the authority relationship and relevant application of the results\udare discussed in this paper.