Authority facts for kids
Authority is when a person or a group has the power to guide or control the actions of others. It's a big part of how societies work. When people follow what an authority figure tells them to do, it's called obedience. Authority is often seen in leaders, like a school principal or a team captain.
Sometimes, authority comes from a person's position, like a police officer. Other times, it comes from people believing in someone's power, like a spiritual leader. This power exists because there can be consequences, or "sanctions," for not following the rules. A sanction is an action that happens if someone doesn't obey the authority.
Authority can work in two main ways. One way is through "forcing," where there's a direct power, like the threat of being put in jail if you break a law. The other way is through "legitimization," which means people accept and believe that the authority has the right to tell them what to do. For example, people usually accept the authority of a judge because they believe in the justice system. Often, both ways are present.
Most authority isn't just about physical power. It's usually part of a larger system or organization. For instance, a country's leader has authority because there are police and laws that help make sure people follow the rules. If everyone decided not to follow the leader, their authority would disappear. But because most people accept it, the authority stays strong.
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What is Obedience?
Obedience means following the rules or instructions given by someone in authority. When people don't obey, it's called disobedience, insubordination, or crime.
If someone doesn't obey an authority, there is usually a sanction or punishment. The seriousness of this punishment depends on the situation, the power of the authority, and the local rules.
Milgram's Experiment on Obedience
Stanley Milgram was a psychologist who wanted to understand why people obey authority, even when they might not want to. He did a famous experiment in the 1960s.
In his experiment, a volunteer was told to be a "teacher." Another person, who was secretly an actor, was the "student." The teacher and student were in different rooms. The "teacher" was told to test the "student" on remembering word pairs. If the "student" got an answer wrong, the "teacher" had to give them an electric shock using a special machine. The shocks weren't real, but the volunteer thought they were. Each time the "student" made a mistake, the shock voltage increased.
Milgram found that 65% of the volunteers gave the highest shock level, which was 450 volts. He had two ideas about why this happened:
- Conformism: This idea suggests that people tend to go along with what others are doing or what they are told to do, especially by an authority figure.
- Agentic State: This theory says that people who obey orders from an authority figure might not feel responsible for their actions. They see themselves as just following instructions.
Criticism of Authority
Not everyone agrees with authority, and some people even believe that no one should have authority over others. Anarchism is a philosophy that is against all forms of authority.
Related pages
Images for kids
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The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial authority in the United States of America.
See also
In Spanish: Autoridad para niños
