Explanations Of Obedience - Agantic State And Legitamate Authority

Question 1

agentic state

Answer 1

• socialised from young age to follow rules
• needs to surrender some free-will
• person acts independently
• carries out orders of an authoritative figure - acts as agent
• on behalf of athorative figure don’t feel guilt for actions
• opposite of autonomous state ( a group that controls itself at her than being controlled by someone else)

Question 2

Agentic state - binding factors

Answer 2

• Milgram ppts felt powerless to stop
• don’t want to deal with hassle off overcoming situations
• help reduce moral strain to obey situation

Question 3

Legitimate authority

Answer 3

• people obey others in society that have higher hierarchy than them
• authoritative character is visible to others
• later conducted in run down building- obedience dropped
• Decrease as power of authority diminished and ppts less likely to trust experiment

Question 4

Evaluating agentic state positive

Answer 4

• most of milgram ppts asked who is responsible if learner is harmed
  -experimenter said that its experimenters responsibility
  -ppts acted more easily - believed they weren’t responsible

Question 5

Negative agentic state

Answer 5

• rank and Jacobson- nurses disobeyed doctors order to give excessive drug does
• doctor ( authoritative figure) - nurse did not obey - not shift to agentic state
• only explains obedience in some situations

Question 6

Negative agentic state

Answer 6

• men of Battalion 101 - did not have direct orders to shoot civilians in polish town
• performed mass acre - behaviour autonomously
• agentic shift not required for destructive behaviour

Question 7

Positive legitimate authority

Answer 7

• research hows countries differ obedience to authority
• milgram study Australian women - obey 16% but Germans obey 85%
• authority seen as legitimate in some cultures - upbringing

Question 8

Negative legitimate authority

Answer 8

• My Lai
• not all situations create same level of obedience
• research - disobey legitimate authority figure - nurses
• soldiers obeyed commanding officer
• some evidence in real world - lead to destructive obedience