Obedience : Situational explainations

Question 1

what is an agentic state ?

Answer 1

• A mental state where you feel no personal responsibility for behaviour because you’re acting on behalf of an authority figure. Frees us from conscience and allows us to obey a destructive authority figure

Question 2

what is the legitimacy of authority ?

Answer 2

• Authority figures are allowed to exercise social power over others (agreed by society)
• some granted power to punish powers=we give up our independence and hand control to authority figures we trust to use their power appropriately

Question 3

What is the autonomous state ?

Answer 3

• Opposite of agentic state/person is free to behave on their own principles so feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions

Question 4

what are binding factors ?

Answer 4

• Aspects of the situation which allow a person to ignore/minimise damaging effect of their behaviour (shifting responsibility to victim/denying the damage)

Question 5

what is destructive authority?

Answer 5

• Authority figures who use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes (ordering people to behave dangerous/cruel)

Question 6

What is an example of destructive authority ?

Answer 6

powerful leaders like Hilter who can use their destructive powers for destructive purposes - ordering ppl in ways which are cruel and dangerous

Question 7

Evaluation - what does research support do? (Agentic shift) - strength

Answer 7

• Milgram’s own studies support the theory
• Most of Milgram’s ppts resisted giving the schocks at some point, often asking Q’s.
• one of these Q’s was ‘ who is responsible is Mr Wallace (the learner) is harmed?’
• Experimenter replied ‘i’m responsible’
• ppts often went through the procedure with no further objections
• shows that once ppts believed they were no longer responsible for their own behaviour they acted more easily as the Experimenter’s agents

Question 8

Evaluation - what does a limited explanation do? (Agentic shift) - limitation

Answer 8

P: does not explain many research findings about obedience
E: e.g. does not explain that the findings of 16/18 nurses who disobeyed orders to administer drugs to patient
E: Doctor was an obvious authority figure but almost all nurses remained autonomous, as did most of Milgram’s ppts
L: suggests that agentic shift at best can only account for some situations of obedience

Question 9

Evaluation - explanation of cultural differences (legitimacy of authority) - strength

Answer 9

P: cultural differences
E: Mantell - obedience for 85% German ppts
E: in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and demanded obedience from individuals
L: reflects the way that different societies are structured and how children are raised to perceive authority figure