Lesson 8 - Situational Explanations of Obedience Flashcards
What are the two main explanations of obedience ?
The agentic state and legitimacy of authority
What is the autonomous state ?
When someone is acting as an independent individual and is aware of the consequences of their actions and decisions. They know they can be hens accountable for the consequences.
What is the agentic state ?
Agentic state is the state in which an individual sees themselves as under the authority of an authority figure. This means they are not responsible for the actions they take. In this state they will often carry out an order without question.
What is the agentic shift ?
Going from an autonomous state to a agentic state.
Why do people adopt the agentic state ?
One explanation might be to maintain a positive self-image. This is because those in authority are usually trustworthy and are higher in the social hierarchy. Once a person has entered the agentic state, they will stay in it because they are concerned that breaking their commitment to the authority figure would seem rude and arrogant.
What are the strengths of the agentic state ?
Participants in Milgram’s experiment were less likely shock Mr.Wallace when they were in the same room as him and could see the consequences of their actions. This supports the idea of an agentic state.
Blass and Schmitt (2001) showed a film of Milgram’s study to some students and asked who was responsible for harming the learner. The students blamed the experimenter rather than the participants. The participants were merely agents and following orders from an authority figure (the scientist).
What are the weaknesses of the agentic state ?
This theory doesn’t explain why some of the participants didn’t obey to the authority figure in Milgram’s study. It also doesn’t explain why one of the nurses in Hofling’s study did not give the drug prescribed by the doctor who is higher up in the hierarchy than a nurse where the nurse is merely just an agent.
In 1998 Mandel reported a case of Major Trapp. In 1942, 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 the chance to say no and be assigned to other duties and a few did but a lot stayed. This occurred despite the victims being in close proximity to the soldiers.
What is legitimate authority ?
Legitimate authority claims that we recognise our own and other people’s position in the social hierarchy. We will obey those who are higher than us in the social hierarchy and we will not obey those who have an equal or lower position in the social hierarchy.
What are the strengths of legitimate authority ?
Hofling (1966) found that nurses would obey a dangerous order from a doctor because they were in a hospital location. 95% of nurses gave the 20 milligrams (double the maximum dose) of Astroten (sugar pills) to the patients despite the doctor being unknown and medicine not being on the stock list. This was done due to the doctor’s legitimate authority.
Bickman (1974) asked confederates to order passerby to pick up litter or move away from a bus stop. The confederates were either dresses as a guard, milkman or just smart clothes. 90% of people obeyed the guard but only 50% obeyed the civilian. A person in a guard uniform is more likely to be perceived as a legitimate authority figure.
What are the weaknesses of legitimate authority ?
Legitimate authority does not explain why some people are able to resist the order of authority figures. 35% of people in Milgram’s study refused to obey the experimenter even thought he had legitimate authority in that situation.
