Explanations for Obedience

Question 1

What are the 4 explanations of obedience?
[4]

Answer 1

1) Situational Variables (e.g. proximity)
2) Legitimacy of Authority
3) Agentic State
4) Authoritarian Personality

Question 2

Explain Legitimacy of Authority as an explanation of obedience.
[3]

Answer 2

1. Suggests we are more likely to obey people who we percieve have more authority than us
2. authority is justidied by individuals’ position of power within a social hieararchy
3. we are willing to give some of our independence and hand control of behaviour to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately

Question 3

What is authority justified by?

Answer 3

An individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy

Question 4

Authority figures are granted the power to punish others only if the figures are seen as __________.

Answer 4

legitimate

Question 5

Explain Agentic State as an explanation of obedience.
[2]

Answer 5

• A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be working for an authority figure
• frees us from demands of conscience and allows us to obey destructivre authority figure

Question 6

When does problems arise with legitimate authority?

Answer 6

When it becomes destructive

Question 7

How was destructive authority shown through experimenter in Milgram’s study?

Answer 7

When the experimenter used prods to order participants to behave unjustly

Question 8

What’s the opposite opf being in an agentic state?

Answer 8

Autonomous state

Question 9

What is autonomous state?

Answer 9

When a person is free to behave according to own principles and feels responsibility for actions

Question 10

What is agentic shift?
[3]

Answer 10

• the shift from autonomoy to ‘agency’
• this happens when someone percieves someone else as an authority figure
• authority figure has greater power because they’re in higher position of social hierarchy

Question 11

When an individual is acting as an agent, what do they most likely experience?

Answer 11

High anxiety - moral strain

Question 12

Why does the individual obey the authority figure, even though they don’t like it?

Answer 12

They feel powerless to disobey

Question 13

What are binding factors?

Answer 13

Aspects of a situation that allows an agent to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce moral strain (shift blame to victim)

Question 14

In the first Milgram experiment, who was said to have the responsibility?

Answer 14

Experimenter

Question 15

Milgram’s own studies support role of agentic shift in obedience

What is a strength of one of the explanations of obedience?
[4]

Answer 15

1. Milgram’s own studies support role of agentic shift in obedience
2. Most of Milgram’s participants resisted giving shocks at some point, and ofetn asked experimenter questions about procedure - who is responsible if Learner is harmed?
3. When experimenter said “I’m responsible” participants went through procedure with no objections
4. When participants understood they weren’t responsible for own behaviour they acted more easily as experimenter’s agent

Question 16

Legitimacy can’t explain instances of siobedience in a hierarchy where l

What is a limitation of one of the explanations of obedience?
[3]

Answer 16

1. Legitimacy can’t explain instances of siobedience in a hierarchy where legitimacy of authroity is clear and accepted
2. In Rank and Jacobson study, most nurses were disobedient despite working in a rigidly hierarchy
3. Suggests people may be just more or less obedient than others