Components of "authority" as determinants of compliance.

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Abstract
Investigated factors affecting compliance to orders from a formal authority. The design created a 2-level status hierarchy in which 163 male undergraduates occupied identical low-status positions and responded to demands from a simulated high-status leader. 4 components of authority (normativity, coercive power, collective justification, and success-failure) were manipulated as independent variables. Another component, the endorsement accorded the leader, was included as a measured variable. Results indicate that compliance increased significantly when coercive power was high (rather than low), when justification was collective (rather than partisan), and when demands were normative (rather than counternormative). Contrary to theoretical expectation, endorsement did not affect compliance by low-status members. Findings show that the normative aspect of legitimacy serves as a compliance-gaining base, even when stripped of enforcing sanctions and underlying goals, and that the distinction between normativity and endorsement is valid for research on social power. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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