Conformity: Social Psychological Factors

Question 1

What is the agentic state

Answer 1

• a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe we are acting for an authority figure
• this free’s us from the demands of our consciences
• we become an ‘agent’ for the authority figure, we may experience ‘moral strain’ but are unable to do anything

Question 2

What is the autonomous state

Answer 2

• ‘autonomy’ means to be independent, or free - so the opposite from the agentic state
• if we are in the autonomous state, we feel a sense of responsibility for our actions
• the shift from autonomy to agency is called the ‘agentic shift’ and occurs when we perceive someone else as a figure of authority

Question 3

What are binding factors

Answer 3

• an answer as to why individuals remain in the agentic state
• aspects of the situation that allow a person to ignore/minimise the demanding effect of their behaviour + reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling
• e.g. shifting responsibility to the victim/denying the damage they are doing etc

Question 4

What is legitimacy of authority

Answer 4

-Society is hierarchically structured, where authority is seen as legitimate because it’s socially agreed upon
- for example, a teacher over a student.
- Authority figures are allowed to wield power to maintain social order, and this legitimacy grants them the right to punish when necessary.

Question 5

What is destructive authority

Answer 5

• we behave in cruel ways if the legitimate authority orders us to do something destructive
• history has shown that some powerful leaders (hitler, Stalin etc) can use legitimate powers for destructive purposes
• shown in migrams study where the experimenter used prods to order ppts to behave in a certain way

Question 6

What are the two evaluation points for agentic state

Answer 6

• research support
• is only a limited explanation

Question 7

Outline ‘research support’ as an evaluation point for the agentic state

Answer 7

• Blass + Schmitt - showed film of milgrams study to students and asked them to identify who they felt was repssiible for the harm to the learner
• students blamed experimenter rather than the ppt
• the students claimed this was because he had legitimate authority but also ‘expert authority’ (he was a scientist)

Question 8

Outline ‘is only a limited explanation’ as an evaluation point for the agentic state

Answer 8

• the agentic shift does not explain why some ppts did not obey in migrams study
• also did not explain the findings of hofling et als study - the agentic shift would argue, as the nurses hand over the responsibly to the doctors, they would have felt moral strain ,but they did not

Question 9

Outline ‘cultural differences’ as an evaluation point for legitimacy of authority

Answer 9

• provides a useful account of cultural differences in obedience
• many studies show countries differ in the degree to which people are obedient to authority
• replication of milgrams study: Miranda et al - 90% Spanish students Obeyed
• this shows in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate