ISSN 2477-1686
Vol. 11 No. 44 Oktober 2025
What Is Worrying About Double-Function of Armed Forces
By:
Any Rufaedah
Psychology Department Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia
Division for Applied Social Psychology Research (DASPR)
On March 20, 2025, the Indonesian People’s Representative (DPR) ratified the amendment of the National Armed Forces (TNI) law, and it has been officially implemented as the law since March 26 (BPK, 2025). The current version enables active military members to hold positions in 14 ministries and institutions, including the Ministry of Politics and Defense, state secretariat, state intelligence agencies, anti-terrorism agencies, drug and narcotics affairs, and the Supreme Court (Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 3 Tahun 2025; Yaputra et al., 2025).
The amendment previously mounted protests across the country, demanding the cancellation of the new regulation. The wide reaction expressed worries about the return of the ABRI (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia) double-function that occurred during the New Order era. Why should the overpower be worried? And what makes armed forces potentially hold double power?
Social psychology offers theories and empirical findings to answer the questions. The famous Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University provides proof of power abuse when people are given authority. Individuals assigned as prison guards in the experiment committed aggressive behavior against participants acting as prisoners (Haney et al., 1973). It shows that individuals with power could easily and immediately use their authority to harm others under their control.
Another theory, approach-inhibition theory, hypothesizes multiple effects of power in positive and negative attributes. Power can increase positive mood and approach to success and affect the perceived feeling of less threat and more freedom; however, it is also correlated with domination, including talking more and interrupting others more, controlling resources, and administering punishment (Keltner et al., 2003). Individuals with the high-power condition are more confident, which affects their ability to preserve their existing views more than the opposite group (e.g. Brinol et al., 2007). Other studies examined how power affects creativity; one found that lower-power individuals can be as creative as high-power individuals when they are given a second chance (Kim et al., 2023).
However, despite the positive effects, studies also found that power can cause serious damage and corruption, be addictive, lead to hypocrisy, decreased empathy, and greed (Tobore, 2023). In the TNI context, the potential of the power’s negative impacts to rise is seemingly higher as armed force holds existing power through their uniform and direct access to weapons. Access to the civil affairs offices gives military officials more power in their hands, increasing the potential to misapply it for inappropriate action or violence.
Moreover, power abuse can more easily occur as Indonesia continues to face issues in the power gap, where many public aspirations have not been responded to positively. The government holds much control over the state’s resources when the people are struggling to fulfill basic needs. People's power has indeed shown development, in particular through social media for the last few years; however, the people have faced challenges in gaining attention to what they are concerned about, as the government does not always respond to them. In many cases, criticism and aspirations from the people were neglected. For example, when people aspired for the government to punish corruptors harder and confiscate their assets, the government in contrast continues to issue remission.
References
Jaringan Dokumentasi dan Informasi Hukum Kementerian Sekretaris Negara. (2025). Perubahan atas Undang-Undang Nomor 34 Tahun 2004 tentang Tentara Nasional Indonesia. Jdih.Setneg. Retrieved on September 17, 2025 from https://jdih.setneg.go.id/Terbaru
Briñol, P., Petty, R. E., Valle, C., Rucker, D. D., & Becerra, A. (2007). The effects of message recipients' power before and after persuasion: A self-validation analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(6), 1040–1053. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1040
Haney, C., Bank, C., & Zimbardo, P. (1973). A study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison. Office of Naval Research Department of the Navy of the United States.
Keltner, D., Gruenfeld, D. H., & Anderson, C. (2003). Power, approach, and inhibition. Psychological Review, 110(2), 265–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.110.2.265
Kim, S., Lucas, B. J., & Goncalo, J. A. (2023). Low power warm-up effect: Understanding the effect of power on creativity over time. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 107, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104474
Tobore, T. O. (2023). On power and its corrupting effects: the effects of power on human behavior and the limits of accountability systems. Communicative & Integrative Biology, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19420889.2023.2246793
Yaputra, H., Marwah, H., Izzuddin, H., Faturahman, A. D., & Nugroho, N. P. (2025, April 17). UU TNI sudah diteken Prabowo, ini poin-poin penting perubahannya. Tempo. Retrieved on September 17, 2025 from https://www.tempo.co/politik/uu-tni-sudah-diteken-prabowo-ini-poin-poin-penting-perubahannya-1232437
