Obedience - Situational explanations Flashcards
Agentic state - what did Milgram propose?
Obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person becomes an ‘agent’.
Agentic state - what is an ‘agent’ ?
Someone who acts for or in place of another.
Agentic state - act on behalf of another person
In an agentic state a person feels no personal responsibility for their actions.
Agentic state - what is an Autonomous state?
A person in an autonomous state behaves according to their principles and feels responsibility for their actions..
Agentic state - what does autonomy mean?
Autonomy means to be independent or free.
Agentic state - what is the agentic shift?
The shift from autonomy to being an ‘agent’.
Agentic state - Milgram - moving to the agentic state
Milgram suggested that this occurs when we perceive someone else as an an authority figure.
This person has power because of their position in a social hierarchy.
Agentic state - Binding factors - reduce of moral strain
Binding factors are aspects of a situation that allows the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the ‘moral strain’ they feel.
Agentic state - Binding factors - Milgram
Milgram proposed a number of strategies the individual uses, such as shifting the responsibility to the victim or denying the damage they are doing to victims.
Legitimacy of authority - why we obey
Most societies are structured hierarchically.
People in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us.
Legitimacy of authority - society’s agreement
The power authority wields is legitimate because it is agreed by society.
Most of us accept that authority figures should exercise social power over others to allow society to function smoothly.
Legitimacy of authority - handing control over to authority figures.
People with legitimate authority have the power to punish others.
We give up some independence to people we trust to exercise authority properly.
Legitimacy of authority - handing control over to authority figures - When do we learn to accept authority?
During childhood.
Legitimacy of authority - use for destructive purposes
History has shown that some leaders use legitimate authority destructively, ordering people to behave in cruel and dangerous ways.
Evaluation - One strength - Agentic state - research support - Milgram’s participants
Most of Milgram’s participants asked the ‘experimenter’ who is responsible if Mr Wallace is harmed ?
Evaluation - One strength - Agentic state - research support - Experimenter
The experimenter answered the participants stating he was responsible.
The participants then carried on quickly without objecting.
Evaluation - One strength - Agentic state - research support - what does this show?
This shows that participants acted more easily as an agent when they believed they were not responsible for their behaviour.
Evaluation - One limitation - Agentic state - no explanation for research findings - Rank and Jacobson (1977)
Found most nurses disobeyed a doctor’s orders to give an excessive drug dose.
Evaluation - One limitation - Agentic state - no explanation for research findings - Rank and Jacobson (1977) - Explanations
The doctor was an authority figure but the nurses remained autonomous and did not shift into an agentic state.
The same is true for some of Milgram’s participants.
Evaluation - One limitation - Agentic state - no explanation for research findings - Rank and Jacobson (1977) - what does this show?
This shows that the agentic shift can only explain obedience in some situations.
Evaluation extra - Agentic state - obedience alibi revisited - Men of battalion
The men of Battalion 101 did not have direct orders to shoot civilians in a polish town.
Evaluation extra - Agentic state - obedience alibi revisited - Men of battalion - what did they do?
Even so, they did perform the massacre, behaving autonomously.
Evaluation extra - Agentic state - obedience alibi revisited - Men of battalion - what does this suggest?
This suggests that the agentic shift is not required for destructive behaviour.
Evaluation - One strength - legitimacy - can explain cultural differences
Research shows that countries differ in obedience to authority.
For example, 16% of Australian women obeyed (Kilham and Mann 1974), 85% of german participants did (Mantell 1971).
Evaluation - One strength - legitimacy - can explain cultural differences - what does this show?
This shows that authority is more likely seen as legitimate in some cultures, reflecting upbringing.
Evaluation - One limitation - legitimacy - cannot explain all (dis)obedience - when may people disobey?
People may disobey even when they accept the legitimacy of the hierarchical authority structure.
Evaluation - One limitation - legitimacy - cannot explain all (dis)obedience - Rank and Jacobson.
The nurses were disobedient, as were some of Milgram’s participants.
Evaluation - One limitation - legitimacy - cannot explain all (dis)obedience - what does this suggest?
This suggests that innate tendency towards (dis)obedience may be more important than legitimacy of authority.
Evaluation extra - real world crimes of obedience - research
research shows that some people disobey legitimate authority
Evaluation extra - real world crimes of obedience - research - My Lai
Soldiers at My Lai obeyed their commanding officer, maybe he had more power to punish than a doctor (Kelman and Hamilton, 1989).
Evaluation extra - real world crimes of obedience - research - what does this show?
Therefore, there is some evidence to in real world situations that respect for legitimate authority can lead to destructive obedience.
