Article Version of Record

Authority relationship from a societal perspective: Social representations of obedience and disobedience in Austrian young adults

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Fattori, Francesco
Curly, Simone
Jörchel, Amrei C.
Pozzi, Maura
Mihalits, Dominik
Alfieri, Sara

Abstract / Description

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

Keyword(s)

social representations obedience disobedience young adults mixed-method approach

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2015-05-29

Journal title

Europe's Journal of Psychology

Volume

11

Issue

2

Page numbers

197–213

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Fattori, F., Curly, S., Jörchel, A. C., Pozzi, M., Mihalits, D., & Alfieri, S. (2015). Authority relationship from a societal perspective: Social representations of obedience and disobedience in Austrian young adults. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v11i2.883
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Fattori, Francesco
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Curly, Simone
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Jörchel, Amrei C.
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Pozzi, Maura
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Mihalits, Dominik
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Alfieri, Sara
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-21T09:59:22Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-21T09:59:22Z
  • Date of first publication
    2015-05-29
  • Abstract / Description
    Obedience and disobedience have always been salient issues for both civil society and social psychologists. Since Milgram’s first studies on destructive obedience there has not been a bottom-up definition of what obedience and disobedience mean. The current study aimed at investigating the social representations young adults use to define and to co-construct knowledge about obedience and disobedience in Austria. One hundred fifty four (106 females, 68.8%) Austrian young adults (Mean age = 22.9; SD = 3.5) completed a mixed-method questionnaire comprising open-ended questions and free word associations. Overall obedience and disobedience are respectively defined as conformity and non-conformity to regulations, ranging from implicit social norms to explicit formal laws. Authority is multi-faceted and has a central role in orienting obedience and disobedience. Further fundamental determinants of the authority relationship and relevant application of the results are discussed in this paper.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Fattori, F., Curly, S., Jörchel, A. C., Pozzi, M., Mihalits, D., & Alfieri, S. (2015). Authority relationship from a societal perspective: Social representations of obedience and disobedience in Austrian young adults. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v11i2.883
  • ISSN
    1841-0413
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/945
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1137
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v11i2.883
  • Keyword(s)
    social representations
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    obedience
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    disobedience
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    young adults
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    mixed-method approach
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Authority relationship from a societal perspective: Social representations of obedience and disobedience in Austrian young adults
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    2
  • Journal title
    Europe's Journal of Psychology
  • Page numbers
    197–213
  • Volume
    11
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record