L7 - situational explanations of obedience Flashcards
what did milgram suggest about agentic state
people obey orders due to situation rather than personalities
what is agentic shift
when people follow orders they go from an autonomous state to an agentic state
what happens during autonomic state
aware of consequences of actions
make decisions knowing they will be held accountable for the consequences
what happens in agentic state
person carries out orders with little responsibility
sees themselves as under the authority of another
will often carry out order without question
why did milgram say individuals remain in agentic state
binding factors
parts of situation allow person to ignore damaging effects of behaviour and reduce moral strain
shifts responsibility to victim
so they feel calm and in control - they are just agents following orders, fault lies with victim and authority figure
strength of agentic state
makes sense and supported by research
blass and schmitt showed milgrams study to students and asked who was responsible for harming learner
students blamed experimenter
experimenter was scientist - top of hierarchy and had authority, pps were agents and following orders
weakness of agentic state
research refutes idea that certain behaviour can be explained
mandel explained an incident where german police obeyed orders to shoot civilians in poland
not given direct orders to do so and could do other duties if preferred
they chose to carry out shootings so agentic state theory does not explain obedience
what is legitimate authority
when we recognise our own and other people’s position in the social hierarchy so we obey those in a higher position
strength of legitimate authority
research support
bickman asked confederates to order passers by to pick some litter off the street
confederates dressed as guard, milkman or smart clothes
90% of people obeyed guard, 50% obeyed civilian
guard is more likely to be perceived as a legitimate authority figure
weakness of legitimate authority
not all legitimate authority figures should be obeyed
in real life, some abuse entire power
e.g. harold shipman, doctor, trusted and justified authority figure, able to kill over 200 patients without suspicion
