Obedience - situational explanations

Question 1

Define agentic state

Answer 1

• Obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person does not take responsibility
• they believe they are acting as an agent for someone else

Question 2

What happens to the agent when they obey an authority?

Answer 2

• experience high anxiety (‘moral strain’)
• they know what they are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey

Question 3

What is autonomous state?

Answer 3

• when a person is free to behave according to their own principles
• feel responsibility for their own actions

Question 4

What is agentic shift?

Answer 4

• the shift from autonomy to agency

Question 5

When does agentic shift occur?

Answer 5

• when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure
• the figure has more power because they are in a higher position in the social hierarchy

Question 6

What are binding factors?

Answer 6

• aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the moral strain they are feeling

Question 7

Give an example of a binding factor

Answer 7

• shifting responsibility to the victim eg. “he was foolish to volunteer”

Question 8

Research support as a strength of agentic state

Answer 8

P: one strength is research support
E: Milgram’s participants asked who was responsible for the procedure. When the experimenter replied he was responsible participants went through with the procedure quickly
E: once PP’s perceived they were no longer responsible they acted more easily
L: supports Milgram’s theory

Question 9

Counterpoint - agentic state as a limited explanation

Answer 9

P: a weakness is that is doesn’t explain many research findings about obedience
E: Rank and Jacobsen - 16/18 nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to administer excessive drugs
E: doctor was an authority but the nurses remained autonomous
L: suggests agentic shift can only account for some situations

Question 10

What is meant by legitimate authority?

Answer 10

• people who wield legitimate authority over us

Question 11

Why is their authority legitimate?

Answer 11

• this is decided by society
• allows society to function smoothly

Question 12

What are the consequences of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 12

• some people are granted the power to punish others
• we are willing to give up our independence so authority figures can exercise their role

Question 13

Where is legitimacy of authority learned?

Answer 13

• from our parents, then teachers and adults

Question 14

What is destructive authority?

Answer 14

• when powerful leaders use their legitimate authority for destructive powers
• ordering people to act in cruel and dangerous ways

Question 15

Explains cultural differences - legitimacy of authority

Answer 15

P: useful account of cultural differences in obedience
E: countries differ in obedience. Only 16% Australian women went up to 450v in a Milgram style study. 85% German participants obeyed.
E: in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate
L: reflects the structure of different societies and how we perceive authority

Question 16

Cannot explain all obedience - weakness of legitimacy of authority

Answer 16

P: cannot explain instances of disobedience where legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted
E: Rank and Jacobsen’s study - nurses were disobedient despite working in a hierarchal authority structure
E: suggests some people may be more/less obedient
L: innate tendencies to obey/disobey may have a greater influence on behaviour