Explanations of Obedience Flashcards
What is agentic state?
Milgram proposed that obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person becomes an ‘agent’ to someone who acts for or in place of another
A personal feels no personal responsbility for their actions
What is agentic shift?
Shift from autonomy to being ‘agent’
What is legitmacy of authoirty?
The authoirty is wield by legitmate in the sense that it is agreed by society - person who is percieved to be in a position of social control within a situation
Most of us accept that authoirty figures exercise their social power over others as this is how society runs/functions smoothly
What is the opposite of agentic state?
Autonomy
What does autonomy mean?
Independent or free
A person in automonus state behaves according to their own pricniples and feels responsible for their own actions
What happens during agentic shift?
Milgram propses that when we percieve someone else as an authority figure
Person has power because of their position in social hierarchy
What do binding factors do with agnetic shift?
Aspects of situation that allow a person to ignore or minimise the damaging effects of their behaviour and reduce the ‘moral strain’ they feel
Milgram proposed that number of statergies that individual uses such as shifting the responsbility to victims or denying damage done to victims
How is society structured in terms of authoirty?
Most societies are structured hierarchically
People in certain positions hold authoirty ober rest of us : e.g : parents , teachers , police officiers have some kind of authoirty over us at times
What is one of the consequences of legitmacy of authoirty?
- Some people are granted the power to punish others
- We give up some of our independence to people we trust to exercise their authoirty approriately
- We have learned to accept authoirty during childhood from parents and teachers
Examples of charismatic leaders using their legimate powers for destructuive purposes
- History shown too often e.g Hitler
- use legitmacy of authoity destructivly to order people to behave in callous, cruel and dangerous ways
What are the two explanations of obedience?
- Agentic stae
- Legitmacy of authoirty
Strength
agentic state has some research support
- Blass and Schmidt (2001) showed students a flim of Milgram’s study and asked to identify who was responsible for harm to learner
- Students blamed the ‘experimenter’ rather than particpant. Due to legitmate authoirty (‘experimenter’ was top of hierarchy) but also exert authoirty (he was a scientist)
- Students recongised legitmacy authoirty as cause of obedience supporting this explanation
Limitation
Agentic shift doesn’t explan many research findings
- Some particpants did not obey - humans are social animals in social hierarchies therefore should all obey
- Hofling et al (966) stud’s nurses shown anxiety as gave responsibility over doctor, because they understoof their role in destructive process. But this was not the case
- Agentic shift can only account for situations of obedience
Strength
Legitmacy of authority can explain real-life obedience
- Kelman and Hamilton (1988) suggest My Lai massacre (Vietnam War) is explained by power hierarchy of US Army
- Army has authoirty by US Government and law
- Soliders assume orders given by hierarchy to be legal: even orders to kill, rape villagers
- Legitmacy of authoirty can give reasons why destructive obedience occure
Strength
Legitmacy of authoirty useful account of cultural differences in obedience
- Countires differ in obedience to authoirty , only 16& of Austrialsn went to top of voltage scale (Kilham and Mann) 85% of German particpants did (Mantell 1971)
- Authoirty is more likely to be accepted as legitmate in some cultures. Reflects how different socieites are structured and children raised to percieve authoirty figures
- Supportive findings from cross-cultural research increases validity of explanation
