TO OBEY, OR NOT OBEY: THE INFLUENCE OF GRATITUDE AND AUTHORITY PROXIMITY ON DESTRUCTIVE OBEDIENCE

Abstract

In line with the emerging social alignment perspective of gratitude, studies have shown that gratitude can lead to a host of outcomes incompatible with traditional prosocial perspectives of the emotion. A study by Ng (2017) provided support for this, showing that participants in a state of generalized gratitude displayed increased destructive obedience. The current paper builds on this finding, proposing that gratitude felt towards the investigating authority would likewise increase obedience. The effect of authority proximity was studied concurrently, with the absence of the investigating authority expected to result in lower levels of obedience. Exploratory analyses were carried out to determine if authority proximity moderated the relationship between gratitude and obedience. These predictions were tested experimentally through the use of a worm-grinding task based on Stanley Milgram’s destructive obedience paradigm. Findings revealed that participants grateful to the investigating authority showed more obedience to their commands to pour worms into a grinder to be killed. Authority proximity influenced obedience, such that obedience dropped in the investigating authority’s presence. No interaction was found between the two factors.