The purpose of this research was to assess the proportion of absolute obedience in a realistic situation and to demonstrate that obedience is related to hostility. Forty-four managers were ordered to recommend which of their superiors were to be fired. It was demonstrated that only one-seventh of Ss obeyed directly and that the degree of obedience was positively related to hostility. The difficulties of contriving realistic obedience situations and of measuring this personality trait were pointed out.
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