Explanations Of Obedience

Question 1

Define Legitimacy of authority

Answer 1

• we are raised to obey authority figures as society accepts their status and credentials as legitimate
• believe they know what they are doing
• we believe that we must follow their orders even if unjust or unethical - therefore more likely to obey them

Question 2

Define agentic state

Answer 2

• people less likely to obey when they believe they are acting on behalf of an authority figure
• move from an autonomous state where you feel guilty and more likely to obey to an agentic state where you are guilt free and lose sense of personal responsibility

Question 3

R2S- agentic state

Answer 3

P- shown in milgram’s obediemce studies
E- most of milgram’s ppts resisted giving shocks at some point and often asked the experimenter questions such as ‘who is responsible if the learner is harmed ?’.
E- when the experimenter responded ‘i am responsible’ the ppt often continued to obey and give the electric shocks.
L- this supports the agentic state as an explanation for obedience as once the ppts no longer believed they were responsible for their actions the obeyed the experimenter

Question 4

R2S- Legitimacy of authority

Answer 4

P-conducted by hofling
E- conducted a study using nurses on a hospital ward who were ordered by an unknown doctor to give a dangerous dose of a drug to pateints via a telephone
E- 21/22 nurses obeyed.
L- therefore supports loa as an explanation of obedience because the doctor had more authority than the nursed, moreover, it could also support the agentic state as the nursed may have felt that the doctors were ultimately responsible as the authority figure and this is why they obeyed

Question 5

R2C- agentic state

Answer 5

P- mandel
E- described one incident involving german nazi soldiers where men obeyed the orders to shoot civillians in a small town in poland. However, they were told beforehand that they could be given other duties instead.
L- this contradicts the agentic state as an eoo as the soldiers chose to shoot the civilians over other duties meaning that they would not be able to place the blame on an authority figure

Question 6

Weakness - loa and agentic state

Answer 6

P- alternative explanation- dispositional factors
E- e.g. the authoritarian personality
E- argues that obedience is due to internal characteristics e.g. their personality, for example having extreme respect for authority due to their upbringing.
L- therefore this suggests that obedience may not just be due to loa and agentic state. Weakens eoo as they are not the sole explanations