Legitimacy Of Authority And The Agentic State Flashcards
What is the definition of Legitimate Authority?
Legitimate Authority is a social explanation of obedience, based on the acceptance of hierarchical order in society.
How are individuals socialized to accept authority?
Individuals are socialized from an early age to accept that those in authority can instruct subordinates.
What are examples of authority structures in society?
- Parent-child
- Teacher-student
- Police officer-civilian
What is perceived as a sign of Legitimate Authority?
A uniform is often an indicator of someone in a position of Legitimate Authority.
Why do we obey Legitimate Authority?
- Trust in appropriate use of authority
- Belief in credentials and knowledge
- Perception of power to punish disobedience
Fill in the blank: A Legitimate Authority is someone perceived to hold a higher position in the _______.
[hierarchy]
True or False: We obey Legitimate Authority because we believe they have the right to be obeyed.
True
What is the relationship between Legitimate Authority and social control?
Legitimate Authority is anyone perceived to be in a position of social control due to their hierarchical position.
What is the state called when an individual has control and acts according to their own wishes?
Autonomous state
In this state, individuals see themselves as responsible and personally accountable for their actions.
What happens to an individual’s sense of responsibility when they obey an authority figure?
They enter an agentic state
In this state, individuals see themselves as agents of the authority figure giving the order.
What is the term for the process of shifting from an autonomous state to an agentic state?
Agentic shift
This shift involves attributing responsibility for one’s actions to the authority figure.
In the agentic state, who is seen as responsible for the consequences of an individual’s actions?
The authority figure
Individuals in this state are more likely to obey as they do not hold themselves accountable.
What may occur in the agentic state that allows a person to obey orders against their moral code?
They do not see themselves as responsible
This lack of personal accountability can lead to actions that conflict with their moral beliefs.
What are binding factors according to Milgram’s theory?
Factors that help reduce moral strain
Examples include blaming others or denying any damage caused, making it more likely for individuals to remain in an agentic state.
True or False: In an autonomous state, individuals feel they are not responsible for their actions.
False
In an autonomous state, individuals see themselves as responsible for their actions.
Fill in the blank: The transition to an agentic state is characterized by a shift of _______.
Responsibility
This shift occurs when individuals attribute their actions to the authority figure.
Support my milgrim-strength
Found that when the experimenter wearing a grey lab coat and an experimenter in everyday clothing took over obedience dropped from 65% (in the original study)to 20%
Uniform supports the authority figures legitimacy of authority
Shows how appearance of the figure can influence people’s rates of obedience
Setting also influenced legitimacy of authority-in a more run down office block the obedience rates were reduced to 47.5% as the participants may have questioned the credentials of the experimenter in this setting(in contrast to prestigious university)
Validate legitimacy of authority as an explanation for obedience
Further research support by Bickman’s New York uniform study
Passers by were asked to perform a set of tasks which included picking a bag of the floor, giving change to a stranger for a parking meter and standing on the other side of the road at a bus stop dressed in different uniforms (guard milkman and everyday clothes)
Guard was obeyed on 76% of the time, the milkman 47% and everyday clothes 30% of the time
Appearance influenced people’s obedience demonstrating power of the uniform in making people believe the person giving the instructions had legitimate authority and appropriate power and credentials, which resulted in higher rates of obedience
Limitation-obedience rates
Other dispositional explanations to consider such as authoritarian personality
Likelihood of perceiving someone as a legitimate authority and the subsequent following of orders of the authority figures, may be influenced by how strongly they adhere to societal hierarchies
People with authoritarian personalities are typically more likely to believe in social hierarchies and be obedient to those they view in a position of power
More valid to suggest an interaction between an individual’s personality factors and the external environment/situation which leads to obedience
Support by milgrim for the agentic state
Participants asked researcher who was responsible for the learner during experiment
When experimenter claimed he was responsible participants are able to shift into agentic state where they felt they were just agents of the authority figures and that they were not accountable for their actions done to the learner
35% who didn’t continue expressed views feeling responsible for learner and that they didn’t want to breach their morals indicating they remained in an autonomous state, explaining their disobedience
Limitation-only based on cognitive processes
Based on cognitive processes (autonomous and agentic states) which cannot be directly observed
Not possible to objectively test whether someone obeying has entered the agentic state
Not scientifically possible to scientifically validate this explanation of obedience
Meaning a highly theoretical explanation
Limitation-agentic state can’t account for individual differences
In Milgrims original study all participants were exposed to the same experimenter and therefore all the participants should all have continued on the same shock generator
35% demonstrated disobedience and stopped before the full 450v suggestion their may be certain personality traits that which make people more or less likely to reach the agentic state
E.g people with the authoritarian personality may be more likely to enter an agentic state and act as an agent of the authority figures and consequently obey
Internal locus of control means an individual can remain in an autonomous state and therefore act in accordance with their individual moral and choose not to obey
So agentic state cannot be a complete explanation
