explanations for obedience

Question 1

agentic state

Answer 1

Milgram suggested that we have 2 states of consciousness.
The autonomous state - where we are fully aware of what we are doing and feel responsible for our actions.
The agentic state - when people obey they go into an agentic state. This means that they stop feeling responsible for their own actions and become an ‘instrument’ or ‘agent’ of the authority figure. We no longer believe that if things go wrong that it is our fault. This also states that obedience occurs in hierarchical systems.

Question 2

legitimacy of authority

Answer 2

People are most likely to accept the power and status of a person and therefore obey them when they consider them to be credible and legitimate. How legitimate we believe someone to be will depend on the context of a situation, the person’s role and their appearance. Most people are socialised to recognise these figures from a young age.
For example, a nurse dressed in uniform on a ward is a credible authority figure. However you would only do what they tell you in a hospital, no where else.
Situational variables form an external explanation of obedience, features of the environment have an effect on obedience rather than something internal or learnt.

Question 3

situational variables affecting obedience

Answer 3

Proximity - when the physical distance between the learner and teacher in Milgram’s study was made smaller, obedience decreased. Proximity is relevant to be considered from two perspectives - when the physical closeness of the authority figure to the person they are giving the order to increases, obedience increases and when the physical closeness of the teacher to the learner increases, obedience decreases.
Location - when Milgram varied his setting to a run-down building in comparison to a prestigious university, obedience decreased. This shows that a location with a better status will increase obedience.
Uniform - in Milgram’s study, when the experimenter was taken over by an ordinary member of the public wearing everyday clothes, obedience largely decreased. A researcher investigated uniform on obedience by using three male confederates dressed as either a milkman, a security guard or a pedestrian. All confederates asked members of the public one of three instructions: pick up a bag, give someone money for a parking meter or stand on the other side of a bus stop which said ‘no standing’. The milkman gained 14% obedience, the security guard 38% and the pedestrian 19%. This shows that an authority figure dressed in a uniform will increase obedience.

Question 4

evaluation - Milgram

Answer 4

Researchers showed students a film of Milgram’s study. They were asked who they felt was responsible for the harm to the learner. They blamed the experimenter rather than the participant. This provides evidence for the agentic state and legitimacy of authority.

Question 5

application

Answer 5

The Holocaust