Agentic state and legitimacy of authority

Question 1

The agentic state

Answer 1

Act as agent carrying out someone else’s wishes.

Question 2

Agentic shift

Answer 2

Shifting responsibility for one’s actions onto someone else.

Question 3

Self image

Answer 3

One reason why people adopt an agentic state is the need to maintain a positive self image. If they do something bad it is not their fault.

Question 4

Legitimacy of authority

Answer 4

Someone who is percieved to be in a position of social control within a situation

Question 5

A03: Real life obedience in agentic state

Answer 5

Lifton found a gradual and irreversible change from ordinary medical professionals, concerned only with the welfare of their patients, into men and women capable of carrying out vile experiments on helpless prisoners

Question 6

A03: Agentic state or just cruel

Answer 6

Zimbardo’s experiment: were they just cruel? Do they just have sadistic impulses.

Question 7

A03: The legitimacy authority explanation and real life obedience

Answer 7

If people authorise another person to make judgements for them about what is appropriate conduct, they no longer feel that their own moral values are relevant to theor conduct. As a result, people are alarmingly willing to do so.