Legitimacy of authority

• Legitimacy of authority = we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us
• Most of us accept that authority figures have to be allowed to exercise social power over others because it allows society to function smoothly.
• We learn acceptance of legitimate authority from childhood, from parents initially and then teachers and adults generally.
• Most societies are structured in a hierarchical way. This means people in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us (parents, teachers, police). The authority they wield is legitimate in the sense that it is agreed by society.
• Most of us accept the police and courts have the power to punish wrongdoers. So we are willing to give up some of our independence and to hand control of our behaviour over to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately.
• Problems arise when legitimate authority becomes destructive.
• History has too often shown that charismatic and powerful leaders can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes, ordering people to behave in ways that are cruel, callous, stupid and dangerous.
• A strength of the legitimacy of authority explanation is that it is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience. Many studies show that countries differ in the degree to which people are traditionally obedient to authority.
• Kilham and Mann replicated Milgram's study in Australia and found that only 16% of their participants went all the way to the top of the voltage scale. However, Mantell found a very different figure for German participants- 85%. This shows in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals. Such supportive findings from cross-cultural research increase the validity of the explanation.