You may not be as good as you think you are

We live in parlous times here in the US. Would you hide an undocumented person from ICE? Would you physically intervene in an ICE arrest if you knew the arrestee was a citizen or in the US legally? Would you resist physically if you were unjustly arrested? Do you expect US soldiers to resist an illegal order?

“Whether you have a rebellious personality or not, most people imagine they are better at overcoming pressure to violate their own principles than they really are, finds a new study. 

“Researchers found that most individuals think they would be more likely than the average person to disobey an immoral or unlawful order from an authority figure. 

 

“This phenomenon, called the “better-than-average effect,” reveals that people are fairly resistant to internalizing beliefs that may harm their self-perceptions.

 

“In extreme cases, ignoring how everyone is subject to social pressure could leave a person vulnerable to the desires of malicious actors. 

 

“Social pressures are way more powerful and impactful than we give them credit for,” said Philip Mazzocco, lead author of the study and an associate professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.”

I’ve wondered about this. As a retired person, I can’t lose my job, so I’m immune from that threat. I have no dependents. But if I have to mount a legal defense in court, I could exhaust my retirement funds defending myself. Even if I “win,” I could end up destitute. I don’t flatter myself to believe that I’d be a profile in courage. 

https://neurosciencenews.com/moral-courage-pressure-psychology-29289/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLCwWRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETEyT1VHVjFqazNYemg2T0oxAR4J8JzAvzblTDGzHTk-MbyrL-S7NaHPGMA1AGDFZO6CPmFTzswDbRAFAnsNGw_aem_uoO2LYQFNrLIqrVi3NzpcA


 

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