Individual behaviour towards authority

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore individual behaviour towards authority. The psychodynamic and phenomenological paradigms are used. Unstructured interviews, conducted on five female consultants, produced themes that provide possible insight into individual behaviour towards authority. These themes were; 'daddy and mommy's little girl', need for attention, approval, to not disappoint and sibling rivalry; anxiety and the use of defense mechanisms; conditions for acceptance and/or comfort; dependency for support; clear and/or rigid boundaries; split in experience towards authority; fear of authority; power struggle; and counterdependency. These themes suggest that individual's project and transfer feelings, fantasies, expectations and wishes of their experiences with their parents, their earliest authority figures, onto other authority figures, for example, their managers. The hypothesis generated was "past experiences with authority figures influences individual experiences and hence behaviour towards present authority figures".