Problem
Instructions:
1) Read the prompts related to disobedience
2) Answer the questions following the prompts
3) Put down a response to prompts 1 and 2 in paragraph form.
Prompt A: One study (Sanderson & Darley, 2002) found that people were likely to obey such laws for both external and internal reasons (i.e., fear of getting caught and respect for the law).
a) Have you ever personally disobeyed laws regarding minor transgressions, such as speed limits or parking?
b) Are the reasons external (e.g., thought you could get away with it)?
c) Or internal (e.g., thought the law was unreasonable)?
Prompt B: Recent efforts to decrease drug use by increasing penalties for the possession and sale of narcotics have been largely unsuccessful, at least in part because people feel that such laws are illegitimate and therefore disobey them.
a) How do you feel about recent laws concerning seat belt use, cell phone use, or smoking?
b) When should the government criminalize such behaviors, and when should it leave such decisions up to individuals?
c) Do you ever disobey such laws, and to what do they attribute such disobedience?
References:
Sanderson, C. A., & Darley, J. M. (2002). "I am moral, but you are deterred": Differential attributions about why people obey the law. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 375-405.