explanations of obedience

Question 1

social-psychological: agentic state

Answer 1

• the agency theory suggests we’re socialised from a young age to follow the rules of society
• to do this a person must surrender some of their free will
• the autonomous state is acting independently, the opposite of this is the agentic state where an individual acts as an ‘agent’ for an authority figure, with less personal responsibility and moral strain for their actions
• the shift from autonomy to agency is the agentic shift

Question 2

social-psychological: legitimacy of authority

Answer 2

we’re more likely to obey someone of a higher position of status in a social hierarchy, believing they have the power to give orders to those ‘below’ them

Question 3

situational explanations

Answer 3

• proximity = how close you are to someone or something
• location = where the study is conducted
• uniform = what the experimenter wore

Question 4

milgram’s variations

Answer 4

• someone else gave the shock (agentic state) - 92.5% obedience
• study was done in a rundown building (legitimacy of authority and location) - 47.5% obedience
• teacher and learner were in the same room (proximity) - 40% obedience
• experimenter left the room and gave orders over the phone (proximity) - 20.5% obedience
• experimenter replaced by someone in normal clothes (uniform and legitimacy of authority) - 20% obedience

Question 5

give a strength of explanations of obedience
1/3

Answer 5

research supports the role of the agentic state in obedience. blass and schmitt (2001) asked students to watch the original footage and when asked who was responsible for the harm, they said the experimenter. it was believed that the experimenter had legitimate authority over the situation and its outcomes

Question 6

give a strength of explanations of obedience
2/3

Answer 6

research supports the role of uniform in obedience. bickman (1974) got confederates in new york to stand on the street, asking members of the public to perform a small task. the confederate’s outfit varied from a suit and tie, a milkman’s outfit and a security guards uniform. it was found that people were twice as likely to obey those in the security guard’s uniform, supporting milgram’s idea that uniform adds to a person’s legitimacy of authority, and is a situational variable that increases obedience

Question 7

give a strength of explanations of obedience
3/3

Answer 7

milgram’s methodological approach to systematically changing one variable at a time is praised for its high reliability. since he had high levels of control over the variables he could closely monitor the effects each had on obedience rates

Question 8

give a limitation of explanations of obedience
1/1

Answer 8

there are cultural differences as to the degree to which authority figures are seen as legitimate. kilman and mann (1974) replicated milgram’s study in Australia but found only 16% of participants shocked the learner at the nax voltage, whereas in germany mantell (1971) found it was 85%. these cross-culturally differences show how different societies have different hierarchical structures, and therefore, people will be less or more obedient towards figures with legitimate authority in that culture. therefore milgram’s study isn’t reflective of obedience cross-culturally