"...but sir, this man is my friends.."
"...no matter what, he's the enemy of the state..."
Everyone love watching movies, right? How often have you heard a movie dialogues above, or something like it on your daily life? We hear or come across commands, instructions, directions and orders everyday. What is it that makes us obey (or disobey) them?
Before we go any further, let's look at the definition about obedience. Obedience is a form of social influence where an individual acts in response to a direct order from another individual, who is usually an authority figure. It is assumed that without such an order the person would not have acted in this way. For example, a soldier (recruit) would take order from soldier in a higher rank (captain). Obedience occurs when you were told to do something (authority), whereas conformity happens through social pressure (the norms of the majority). Obedience involves a hierarchy of power / status. Therefore, the person giving the order has a higher status than the person receiving the order.
Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which is human behaviour influenced by peers and also distinguished from conformity, a human behaviour intended to match that of the majority. Obedience can be seen as moral and immoral. For example, in a situation when one orders a person to kill another innocent person and he does so willingly, it is generally considered to be immoral but however if one orders a person to kill an enemy who will end many innocent lives and he do so willingly, it can be deemed moral action.
