Lesson 7- situational explanations of obedience

Question 1

Agentic state

Answer 1

-Milgram (1974) argued that people can obey horrific orders not because of their own personalities but because of the situations they are in
-people following orders go from an autonomous state into an agentic state: agentic shift
-agentic state: people carry out orders unthinkingly and perceive themselves as merely the instrument of an authority figure, believe authority figure is responsible for their actions (diffusion of responsibility), so do not follow own conscience or feel guilty
-state occurs because in peoples experiences those in authority are usually trustworthy and orders seem reasonable before becoming more aggressive (gradual commitment) and people are psychologically protected from consequences of their actions (buffers)
-people may adopt agentic state to maintain positive self-image, does not matter what negative behaviour they show because they are not responsible
-once entered agentic state they stay in it due to concerns that breaking commitment to authority figure would seem arrogant and rude
-Milgram thought agentic state had developed during human evolution and is necessary for hierarchies to function in society and prevent chaos, we live in a society constantly submitting for authority figures and so obedience is essential

Question 2

Evaluation of agentic state (1 weakness 1 strength)

Answer 2

-participants is Milgram’s experiment were less likely to shock Mr Wallace when they were in the same room as him and could see consequences, no buffers, being in close proximity and seeing him in pain prevents agentic state
-Mandel (1998), Major Wilhelm Trapp, in 1942 in Polish village of Jozefow, Major Trapp was given orders to take a large group of Jewish people to the edge of the village and have them shot, members of his battalion were given chance to say no and be assigned to other duties but few did and massacre went ahead, occurred despite being in close proximity

Question 3

Legitimate authority

Answer 3

-claims that we recognise our own and other peoples position in social hierarchy and will obey those who have a higher position, will not obey those who have equal or lower position
-increased by visible symbols of authority eg uniform
-dependent on setting, order, system and location, especially if commands are potentially harmful or destructive

Question 4

Evaluation of legitimate authority (2 strengths 1 weakness)

Answer 4

-Hoffling (1966) found nurses would obey a dangerous order from a doctor because they were in a hospital location: nurses received a phone call from an unknown doctor called Dr Smith, asked her to administer 20 milligrams of a drug called Astroten (really just sugar pills) to a patient, broke hospital rules as twice maximum dose as indicated on the bottle, instructions given over the phone, doctor was unknown, medicine was not on the stock list, 95% of nurses carried out instructions despite potential danger, because of doctors LA
-Bickman (1974) asked confederates to order passersby to pick some litter off the street or move away from a bust stop, the confederate were dressed as either a guard, milkman or just in smart clothes, 90% obeyed the guard but only 50% obeyed the civilian, guard uniform=more likely to be perceived as authority figure
-does not explain why some people are able to resist the order or authority figures, 35% of participants in Milgram’s study refused to obey experimenter even though he had legitimate authority