Explanations for obedience Flashcards
who proposed the agency theory?
Milgram
what is the agency theory?
we are socialised from an early age to learn that obedience to rules is necessary to keep stability in society but have to give up free will to do this
what is the autonomous state?
when someone has control and acts according to their own wishes and so see themself as personally responsible for their actions
what is the agentic state?
when someone obeys an authority figure and give up some free will - seeing themself as an agent of the authority figure giving the order
who is responsible for the consequences of a persons actions in the agentic state?
the authority figure
what does a person become when they are in the agentic state ?
de-individuated - losing sense of individuality & may obey orders going against their moral code
give an example someone in the agentic state?
Adolf Eichmann argued he was in the agentic state because he was only following orders and so he argues he’s not responsible for the genocide
what did Milgram find in his remote authority variation of his procedure?
when the confed wasn’t in the same room as the teacher but gave orders on a telephone link, obedience declined from 62.5% to 20.5% - suggesting people were in the autonomous state
what is legitimacy of authority?
the degree to which individuals are seen as justified in having power over others
what did Milgram find in his study about legitimacy of authority?
some pp’s ignored the learner’s apparent distress, showing little sign of harm themselves but instead focused on following the procedure, so are seen as recognising the legitimate authority of the researcher
