Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of authority. Flashcards
What’s an explanation for obedience that has the definition acting on behalf of another person ?
Agentic state-Milgram proposed that obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person becomes an ‘agent’:someone who acts for or in place of another.Agentic state=a person feels no personal responsibility for their actions.Autonomous state=a person behaves according to their principles and feels responsible for their actions.
Agentic state:How does someone become an “agent”?
The shift from autonomy to being an agent is called the agentic shift. Milgram said this occurs when we view someone powerful(position in a social hierarchy)as an authority figure.
Agentic state:What causes people to minimise/ignore damaging affects of their behaviour ?
Binding factors=aspects of a situation that allow the person to ignore/minimise damaging effects of their behaviour and reduce ‘moral strain’ they feel.Milgram proposed a number of strategies the individual uses,e.g. shifting responsibility to victim or denying damage they do to victims.
What is another explanation for obedience with the definition:the authority figures power is agreed on by people.
Legitimacy of authority-Most societies are structured hierarchically. People in certain positions hold authority over us, e.g.police officers.
Legitimacy of authority:Why do authorities hold power ?
Authorities hold power because it is agreed on by society. Most of us accept that authority can use social power over others to allow society to function. People with legitimate authority have power to punish others. We give up independence to people we trust to use authority properly.
Legitimacy of authority:How do we learn to accept authority?
during childhood (parents). History has shown that some leaders (e.g. Hitler and Stalin) use legitimate authority destructively, ordering people to behave in cruel ways.
What piece of research supports the Agentic state explanation ?
Most of Milgram’s participants asked:’Experimenter, Who is responsible if Mr Wallace (the Learner) is harmed?’When the Experimenter replied ‘I’m responsible’ participants went through procedure quickly without objecting=Shows participants acted easily as an agent when they believed they weren’t responsible for their behaviour.
What’s a piece of research that the Agentic state couldn’t explain?
Rank and Jacobson (1977) found that most nurses disobeyed a doctor’s order to give an excessive drug dose. The doctor was an authority figure but nurses remained autonomous and didn’t shift to an agentic state,same is true for some of Milgram’s participants.This shows that agentic shift can only explain obedience in some situations.
What event suggests that Agentic shift isn’t required for destructive behaviour?
The men of Battalion
101 did not have direct orders to shoot civilians in a Polish town (Mandel 1998). Even so, they did perform the massacre, behaving autonomously.
How can legitimacy of authority explain cultural differences?
Research shows that countries differ in obedience to authority.E.g. 16% of Australian women obeyed (Kilham and Mann 1974), 85% of German participants did (Mantell 1971). This shows that authority is more likely seen as legitimate in some cultures.
Why cant legitimacy of authority explain disobedience ?
People may disobey even when they accept legitimacy of the hierarchical authority structure.E.g. most of Rank and Jacobson’s nurses were disobedient, as were some of Milgram’s participants. This suggests that innate tendencies towards (dis)obedience may be more important than legitimacy of authority.
What evidence is there to support this statement: Respect for legitimacy of authority can cause destructive obedience.
Some people disobey legitimate authority, e.g. Rank and Jacobson- nurses disobeyed a doctor even in a hierarchy. But soldiers at My
Lai obeyed their commanding officer, maybe he had more power to punish than a doctor (Kelman and Hamilton 1989). Therefore there is some evidence in real-world situations that respect for legitimate authority can lead to destructive
obedience.
