Explanations Of Obedience Flashcards
What are the two main explanations of obedience
The agentic state
Legitimacy of authority
Why did milgram have an initial interest in obedience
Milgram’s initial interest in obedience was due to the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 for war crimes. Eichmann had been in charge of the Nazi camps and his defence was that he was only obeying orders. This lead Milgram to propose that obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person does not take responsibility – instead they are acting for someone else, in other words, they are acting as an ‘agent’. An ‘agent’ can be defined as someone who acts for or in place for another.
What is an agent
An ‘agent’ can be defined as someone who acts for or in place for another.
What is autonomic state
• When acting as independent individuals, people are aware of the consequences of their actions and make decisions knowing they will be held account for the consequences.
What is the agentic shift
The change from an autonomous (independent) state to the agentic state is known as the agentic shift.
What are the two different ways people operate in social situations according to Milgram
• When acting as independent individuals, people are aware of the consequences of their actions and make decisions knowing they will be held account for the consequences. This is also known as the autonomic state.
• When in an agentic state (state in which a person carries out orders with little personal responsibility) an individual sees themselves as under the authority of another, not responsible for the actions they take. In this state they will often carry out an order without question.
When does an agentic shift occur according to milgram
Milgram (1974) suggested that this occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority. This other person has greater power because of their position in a social hierarchy.
Why does Milgram think that individuals remain in the agentic state
Milgram then raised the question of why the individual remains in the agentic state. He argued that the reason was due to binding factors. These bindings factors include aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore the damaging effects of their behaviour and thus reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling and shifting the responsibility to the victim (e.g. why did he agree to take part and he was foolish to volunteer). This helps the person feel calm and in control because they feel that what they are doing is not their fault and that they are merely agents following orders – the fault lies in the victim and authority figure
How did Milgram apply his theory to his own study
Milgram applied this theory to his own study, arguing that participants viewed themselves as subordinates of the experimenter not responsible for their own actions. In support when Milgram’s participants were debriefed after the original electric shock experiment, many reported that they knew it was wrong to deliver dangerous electric shocks, but that they felt they were expected to obey the experimenter.
Strengths of the Agentic State evaluation
This theory actually makes sense in explaining why we obey authority and is supported by research. For example, Blass and Schmitt (2001) showed a film of Milgram’s study to some students and asked them who was responsible for harming the learner Mr Wallace. The students blamed the experimenter rather than the participant. The students also indicated that the fact that the experimenter was a scientist – at the top of the hierarchy thus had authority – the participants were merely agents and following orders from the scientist.
Weaknesses of the agentic state explanation
However, this theory does not explain many other research findings such as why some of the pps did not obey the authority figure in Milgrams study. It also does not explain why one of nurses in Holfling’s study did not give the drug prescribed by the doctor who is higher up in the hierarchy than a nurse whereby a nurse is merely the agent! In fact, it does not explain the findings of Rank and Jacobson’s study where only 2/18 nurses were willing to give the drug prescribed by the doctor. Clearly the agentic state theory is not explaining why people who are ‘agents’ still do not obey.
Another limitation of the ‘agentic state’ explanation is that research evidence has refuted the idea that the behaviour of the Nazi’s can be explained in terms of the agentic state. For example, Mandel (1998) explained one incident involving German Reserve Police Battalion 101 where men obeyed orders to shoot civilians in Poland. Infact, these men were not given any direct orders to do so and were told that they could do other duties if they preferred. The Police still preferred to carry out the shootings – this example shows that the agentic state theory does not explain obedience since the police were not acting as agents as they did not have to shoot – however they still chose to shoot – why?
So, this theory at best explains some situations in which we obey authority but not all.
What is legitimate theory and give and example
Most societies are structured in a hierarchical way. This means that people in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us such as parents, teachers, police. Also, from early childhood, we are socialised to obey certain legitimate authority figures. This refers to the amount of social power held by the person who gives the instruction. We are taught that we should obey such people with legitimate authority because we trust them, or because we fear punishment.
Name one consequence of this legitimacy of authority
One of the consequences of this legitimacy of authority is that some people are granted the power to punish others. For example, in society we accept that the police and the courts are allowed to punish criminals.
For example, In Milgram’s study the legitimate authority figure was a scientist. We are taught to have respect for scientists, and his white lab coat, manner of speaking and fact he worked for Yale University added to his authority.
What is a symbol of legitimate authority
Uniforms are often a symbol of legitimate authority. This explains Bickman’s study showing that individuals are more likely to obey an order from a stranger wearing a uniform.
What is the problem of legitimate authority
Unfortunately, the problem lies in when the legitimate authority becomes destructive. For example, history has shown how powerful leaders such as Adolf Hitler use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes (e.g . the HOLOCAUST). Destructive authority was shown in Milgram’s study when the experimenter used prods on the pps to administer lethal electric shocks to an innocent learner.
