Agentic State

Question 1

What is Agentic State?

Answer 1

• Normally people act in the autonomous state – choosing their own behaviours and follow the orders of LAfs.
• If they are issued an order by a LAF this produces moral strain. The two dynamics above conflict.
  -The brain’s response to moral strain is to shift into the ‘agentic state’
• In this state responsibility is displaced onto the LAF and the immoral order is followed without guilt.

Question 2

A03 - Not in the Agentic State

Answer 2

• A limitation of this explanation is that it appears that many participants in Milgram’s studies were not in an agentic state.
• Some obedient participants experienced a strong conflict between the experimenter’s demands and their own conscience. They seemed very tense and nervous, they perspired, they bit their lips, and they clenched and unclenched their fists, 3 P’s had seizures.
• In addition, many argued strongly with the experimenter about what they were asked to do.
  -Therefore, this suggests that the agentic state may not be a full explanation for obedience.

Question 3

A03 - Strength - Abu Ghraib

Answer 3

• A strength is that Milgram’s explanation matches the reports given by officers known to have carried out immoral orders
  (e.g. WW2 or Abu Ghraib).
• However, the validity of these accounts is questionable as they could be a form of minimisation, where attempts are made to minimise the psychological trauma of accepting personal responsibility for past actions.
• Therefore, care should be taken when drawing conclusions from first-hand accounts.