Explanation of Obedience 2 - Agentic State Flashcards
When might people undergo the process called the agentic shift?
When they are in the presence of ‘perceived’ authority.
What does it mean when someone undergoes the process called the agentic shift?
They shift from operating as autonomous individuals to operating in the agentic state.
What is the key difference between a person operating as an autonomous individuals and a person operating in the agentic state?
How much responsibility someone has.
What is there a tendency for the individual to feel when they are in he agentic state?
Less personal responsibility for their actions when they are obeying instructions.
What is the authority perceived to be that of when a person is operating in the agentic state?
The authority figures.
Who first called this state the agentic state?
Milgram
What is another way of wording what the agentic state is?
Acting as an agent of someone else, individual conscience ceasing to influence actions.
What happens at the when there is an autonomous individual?
They make their own decisions based around the potential or perceived consequences of their actions.
When will someone go into the agentic state?
In the presence of authority.
When will someone be an autonomous individual?
In a normal situation.
What will an individual make a decision on when they are in the agentic state?
Based on instruction.
Why does the agentic shift take place?
To maintain a positive self-image.
Why, when in the agentic state, do people comply to a negative instruction?
Because the action is no longer their responsibility, therefore it does not reflect badly on their self image.
Where can support for this theory be found?
Within Milgram’s work.
How can the work of Milgram support this theory?
Because the prompts made the participants feel as though if anything bad was to happen, the blame would be put on the experimenter rather than themselves.
