"There is a world-famous photo of a German individual, standing amongst a large group of saluting Nazis, appearing to refuse to conform to the salute. The photograph was taken in Hamburg in 1936, and the man is believed to be August Landmesser. This is a fascinating instance of a man refusing to conform, despite the potentially violent consequences of rebelling. What could the psychological dynamics at play be here?"
"In the aftermath of World War II and the unprecedented devastation it wrought, the academic world strove to understand how this could happen; how could a whole population succumb to such an uncivilized ideology? At Yale University, psychologist Stanley Milgram's experimentation (aptly termed by some as the "Eichmann experiment") would uncover findings that could explain how people could fall into immoral behavior that harmed others."
A famous 1936 Hamburg photograph shows a man, believed to be August Landmesser, refusing to perform a Nazi salute amidst a crowd. Classic experiments by Stanley Milgram and Solomon Asch demonstrate strong human tendencies to obey authority and conform to group norms, even when actions harm others. Preference falsification explains how public compliance can mask private dissent, allowing harmful social norms to persist. Personality traits from the Big Five, especially agreeableness and conscientiousness, often support cooperation and order but can also predispose individuals to follow harmful directives. Occasional dissenters expose the fragility of enforced conformity.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]