Evil or obedient?

A new study has found that ‘normal, decent’ people are capable of not only engaging in acts of cruelty, but doing them with enthusiasm too.

The concept, which St Andrews students often grapple with when trying to buy drinks in the Lizard, only to be cheerily told they’re 6 quid, was studied by Professor Stephen Reicher of the University of St. Andrews and Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Queensland, Australia, and challenges the idea that harmful behaviours arise from the tendency of humans to ‘obey orders’.

“In short, people do harm not because they are unaware that they are doing wrong, but because they believe that they are doing right,” Professor Reicher told the University of St. Andrews Press Office.  “It is this conviction that steels participants to do their dirty work, and that makes them act energetically and creatively to ensure its success.”

A BBC broadcasted prison study conducted by the pair in 2002 showed that the guards only acted with severity when they identified with the group they were monitoring and felt that more ruthless measures must be taken to ensure order.

Most Read

One surprising celeb lost thousands of Instagram followers while on The Celebrity Traitors

The 20 worst UK universities for employability in 2026, according to graduate data

It’s out! Who gets married and who doesn’t at Love Is Blind season 11 weddings has leaked

The two have since demonstrated through various studies that people submit to authority only when they believe they are acting in the interests of the greater good. However, when orders are given, obedience declines because people are not as convinced they are acting for the greater good.

Professor Haslam insists, however, that these findings will stand the test of empirical enquiry. “Our own research shows that tyranny does not result from blind conformity to rules and roles, it is a creative act of followership that flows from identification with authorities who represent vicious acts as virtuous.”