The Milgram Experiment, Prudential: Everybody's Doing It

Agency and structure greatly influences our society, and as a result, formal rationalities are often created. However, sometimes boundaries are crossed and the border between composure and madness is easily ripped to shreds. Pressure frequently refines character, but it mostly defines character; when pressure is at its strongest, people find out who they really are. In the sociological experiments: The Milgram Experiment, Prudential: Everybody’s Doing It, and the Stanford Prison Experiment, that theory is tested, and society is easily able to analyze the differences between circumstances and people’s decisions, which raises the questions: whether conformity is better than rebellion and if we have the power to exercise free will at all. Subsequently, structure is sometimes categorized as the force, or higher-authority, that keeps society straight. Due …show more content…
When given the power to be the higher authority, or the enforcement of structure, a natural instinct kicks in to portray whatever role is given. Rather than continuing to be oneself, a person frequently molds their character to fit into the position. This is commonly seen in places of business and social hierarchies. For example, in the Stanford Prison Experiment, the participants, that were given the authority, became evil and deranged individuals, yet credited their behavior to the uniform and status given to them. Not all were provoking the inmates, but many of them failed to protest the behavior, which basically means they attributed to it. My outlook is the officers that didn’t speak up probably feared being turned against as well— if they didn’t help dig the hole, they’d be thrown into. However, they truly were able to see that the courage they probably thought they possessed was nonexistent. Dire situations awaken demons that people didn’t know existed, or like some people in this case, confirm inner