Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “Am I truly making my own choices?” Or have you simply been following the path laid out for you — school, job, bills, sleep, repeat — without even realizing it?
Many of us are taught from a young age to obey authority. We’re told it’s the right thing to do. Questioning those in power? That’s discouraged. From schoolteachers to bosses, we’re trained to follow orders. Most of us still do it— often without even knowing why.
Are you still working your 9 to 5 job, listening to your angry boss and letting him push you around? If so, are you doing it consciously… or are you being manipulated into doing it?
Truth is…Both.
We actually can’t help it, not when we’re not aware of it anyway. Have you ever heard of the authority bias?
What Is Authority Bias?
Authority bias refers to the tendency of people to blindly follow the advice, suggestions, or instructions of others who are in positions of authority — such as a boss, teacher, police officer, doctor, or government official. It also describes the tendency to believe or trust ideas that include some kind of badge or symbol of authority, like a statement about COVID-19 from the CDC.
Milgram Experiment
You’re invited to take part in a scientific study on learning and memory. You’re told you’ll be the “teacher,” and your job is to help a “learner” (who you think is another volunteer) memorize word pairs. Every time the learner messes up, you’re instructed to give them an electric shock, starting small but increasing the shock voltage with every mistake.
The person screaming in pain behind the wall? Just an actor.
But the scientist in a lab coat next to you calmly says, “Please continue.”
This was Stanley Milgram’s 1961 experiment, and it revealed that ordinary people are suckers for following orders — even if it means hurting someone — just because an authority figure tells them to.
Over 65% of participants went all the way to the maximum voltage marked “DANGER: Severe Shock,” simply because they were told to. Many were visibly distressed, but they still obeyed.
This experiment shook the world. Coming in the shadow of World War II and the Holocaust, it raised serious questions about morality, responsibility, and the power of authority. If everyday people were willing to hurt someone just because a man in a lab coat said so, what else might we be capable of?
Obedience often overrides ethics. And that should scare us.
From Cockpits to Cubicles: Reprogramming the Bias
Even airports and airlines have taken steps to protect themselves against authority bias.
In the old days, when copilots found something odd about a captain’s decision, they would often choose not to speak up. They were trained not to challenge authority — even when their gut told them something was wrong.
In response, airlines introduced Crew Resource Management (CRM). A system that encourages everyone ( regardless of rank ) to discuss any reservations they have openly and quickly in the cockpit. Copilots are now expected to speak up if something feels off, and captains are trained to listen.
In other words, they reprogrammed the authority bias. As a result, CRM has done more for flight safety in the past 20 years than any technological advancement.
But What About the Rest of Us?
Sadly, most corporate workplaces haven’t followed suit. Too many companies are still run by CEOs and managers who demand obedience rather than encourage collaboration. Employees — afraid of losing their jobs or speaking out — comply without question.
So…
Why Do We Let Someone Pull Our Strings?
Is it written in our genetic code?
In a way, yes.
From a young age, we are socialized to respect and obey authority figures like parents, teachers, and law enforcement. As Stanley Milgram put it:
“The first twenty years of the young person’s life are spent functioning as a subordinate element in an authority system.”
Over time, this ingrained respect for authority becomes a cognitive shortcut, or heuristic, a way to help simplify and speed up decision-making processes. In many situations, people don’t have the time or resources to question every command, so they rely on the expertise of those they consider authoritative.
This tendency reduces the amount of cognitive energy we expend on decision-making, lightening our cognitive load and leaving more mental resources available for decisions that we cannot defer to others.
Think back to how simple things were when your parents made most of your choices — what to eat, what to wear, when to leave for school.
Now that you’re an adult, you still defer decisions — to your boss, your doctor, your government — all this, just to lighten the load. And just like that, we slip back into obedience.
Enter the Stanford Prison Experiment
If you prefer observing over reading, take a look at the Stanford Prison Experiment. A dramatic case of authority bias in real time.
This infamous social psychology study, funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, took place at Stanford University in August 1971. Students were assigned roles as guards or prisoners in a mock prison environment.
Though all participants were aware it was merely an experiment, the guards quickly began to exhibit authoritarian and abusive behavior, while the prisoners grew increasingly submissive and emotionally distressed.
The guards began to believe they had real authority. And the prisoners — despite knowing the guards were just fellow students, they responded as if the authority were real, obeying orders and enduring mistreatment with minimal resistance.
Even Zimbardo himself, who played the role of the prison superintendent, became so absorbed in the experiment that he allowed the abuse to continue unchecked for six days. It wasn’t until an outside observer intervened that he recognized the ethical breach and shut it down.
The Stanford experiment reveals just how easily the authority bias can override our logic, empathy, and personal judgment. And it’s not just about following orders — it’s about what happens when you’re the one giving them too.
So… Whose Fault Is It?
Now we return to the ultimate question: Who’s to blame?
Is it the people in power who manipulate us?
Is it us for letting it happen?
Or is it the system and our own biology?
The answer: all of the above.
From a biological standpoint, we’re wired to obey authority. From a societal standpoint, we’re conditioned to. And from a systemic standpoint, those in power often build structures that encourage obedience and discourage questioning.
But awareness is everything. Once you recognize the wires, you can choose not to be pulled by them.
You don’t have to unplug from the Matrix. You just need to start seeing the wires.
