obedience: situational explanations

Question 1

what is agentic state?

Answer 1

• mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour - believe to be acting for an authority figure - as their agent
• allows to be freed from conscience + allows to obey even a destructive authority figure
• feel moral strain due to their wrongful behaviour but feel powerless to disobey due to their lower position in the social hierarchy

Question 2

what is the autonomous state?

Answer 2

a state of independence where individuals have free will to behave according to their own principles and feel a responsibility towards their own actions

Question 3

what is the agentic shift?

Answer 3

• shift from autonomy to agency
• milgram suggested this occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure
• authority figure greater power because have higher position in social hierarchy
• in most groups - when one person in charge others defer to legitimate authority of this person - agentic shift

Question 4

how did ptps in milgram’s study show agentic state?

Answer 4

• milgram observed many ptps said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless to
• remained in agentic state due to bindings factors - aspects of situation allow to minimise/ignore damaging effect of behaviour + reduce moral strain
• milgram proposed strategies - shifting responsibility to victim ‘foolish to volunteer’
• deny damage doing to the victims

Question 5

what is moral strain ACCORDING TO MILGRAM?

Answer 5

• milgram found that when we go against our morals - experience moral strain
• ptps said they felt - upset, stressed, nervous

Question 6

what is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 6

• explanation for obedience - suggests more likely to obey people who perceive to have more authority over us which is justified by individual’s power within a society
• society is structured in a hierarchy where those near the top have power over those towards the bottom BECAUSE their position is dictated as legitimate by society, we accept that they can exert their power over us
• obedience to authority is conditioned
• we give up our independence and place our trust in these authority figures understanding that they can punish us otherwise

Question 7

what is destructive authority?

Answer 7

• sometimes LA can be destructive - using legitimate powers for destructive purposes ordering to behave in cruel + dangerous ways
• DA obvious in milgram’s study when experimenter used prods to order ptps to behave against conscience

Question 8

what was the my lai massacre? (agentic state)

Answer 8

• milgrams findings have been used to explain it
• war crime at my lai during viet war
• 504 unarmed civilians killed by american soldiers - women gang-raped + people shot down as emerged from homes in surrender
• blew up buildings, burned village to ground and killed all animals
• only calley faced charges + found guilty - insisted taking orders from superiors + bore no direct responsibility - soldiers in turn said merely taking orders from calley

Question 9

evaluate agentic state

Answer 9

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Question 10

how is milgram’s study a strength of agentic state?

Answer 10

• supports the role of agentic state in obedience
• most ptp’s resisted giving shocks at some point - often asked experimenter questions
• one was who is responsible if learner is harmed - when experimenter said it was them ptp often went through w procedure quickly no further objections
• shows once ptps perceived no longer responsible for behavior - acted more easily as ex’s agent

Question 11

how is limited explanation for studies a weakness for agentic shift?

Answer 11

• agentic shift does not explain many findings about obedience
• does not explain findings of rank + jacobson
• 16/18 nurses disobeyed orders from doctor to administer excessive drug dose to patient
• despite doctor authority figure - almost all nurses remained autonomous
• suggests obedience can only account to some situations of obedience - ecological validity

Question 12

how agentic shift not required for destructive behaviour?

Answer 12

• mandel 1998
• members of german reserve police battalion 101 murdered civilians without direct orders
• didnt see selves acting as agents of higher authority - given choice to act autonomously
• many reasons to do do - prejudice, racism etc - diff pic to oversimplified of milgram - behaviour simply result one factor - agent of destructive authority

Question 13

evaluate loa

Answer 13

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Question 14

how is there cultural support for legitimacy of authority?

Answer 14

• cultural differences
• countries where obedience + deference to authority are less valued (australia) obedience rates lower than in countries that value legitimate authority figures
• suggests loa plays part in obedience

Question 15

how is not being able to explain all obedience a limitation of loa?

Answer 15

• cannot explain disobedience in hierarchy where loa is clear + accepted
• included R + J - most disobedient despite hierarchy
• also significant minority of milgram disobeyed despite despite recognising exp scientific authority
• some may be more/less obedient than others - innate tendencies greater influence than leg of an authority figure?

Question 16

how is my lai a strength of loa?

Answer 16

• commanding officers operate within clearer legitimate hierachy than hospital doctors
• greater power to punish