Milgram Flashcards
What is autonomous state?
Independent state
In what state do people feel a sense of responsibility?
Autonomous state
What is the agentic shift?
When someone switches from acting alone to follow the orders of someone
Why do people change to the agentic state?
They start to follow the rules of someone who has a higher level in the hierarchy / the person is a person of authority
What is binding factors?
Factors that make it hard for people to leave the agentic state
And shift responsibility to the victim
What is the legitimacy of authority?
People are given authority over others so are also able to punish others - we willingly give up our independence
What is destructive authority?
People who have authority may use their powers to abuse and order destructive behaviour and for people to be cruel and callous just because someone with authority has ordered for the destructive behaviour
AO3 : Reductionist approach - Limited explanation
Not all participant obeyed - doesn’t explain why
Can’t be explained by agentic shift as all humans are part of social hierarchy
AO3 : Cultural differences - Increases validity
Can help to explain cultural differences in obedience
Explains why some cultures are more likely to abide as children are raised differently
Reflects the different ways societies are structured and perceive authority figures
AO3 : Blass and Schmitt (2001) - Increased support for legitimacy of authority
Legitimacy of authority was the cause of obedience
Blass and Schmitt Showed a film of milgram’s study to students and asked them to identify who was causing the harm
They all said the experimenters as they were the ones telling them to inflict the pain (the electric shots) as they had to listen to the experimenters because of authority.
