Obedience: Social-Psychological Factors

Question 1

What is the social-psychological explanation?

Answer 1

Concerns the influence of others on an individual’s behaviour, rather than external factors in the situation

Question 2

Who proposed the agentic theory?

Answer 2

Milgram

Question 3

What is meant by the agentic theory?

Answer 3

• We act as an agent in response to someone in authority

- Easy to deny personal responsibility for our action

Question 4

What are the ways in which people can act according to the agentic theory?

Answer 4

• Autonomous state

- Agentic state

Question 5

Define the autonomous state:

Answer 5

Individuals direct their own behaviour, and take responsibility for the consequences

Question 6

Define the agentic state:

Answer 6

Individuals allow someone else to direct their behaviour – they pass responsibility to them

Question 7

What is the agentic shift according to the agentic theory?

Answer 7

People move from the autonomous state into the agentic state when confronted with an authority figure.

Question 8

What is binding factors?

Answer 8

Aspects of the situation that allow a person to minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour.

Question 9

What are two theories of social-psychological explanation?

Answer 9

• Agentic State

- Legitimacy Theory

Question 10

Define Legitimate:

Answer 10

• Being in compliance with the law
• Being in accordance with established or accepted patterns and standards
• Based on logical reasoning
• Authentic; genuine

Question 11

Define Legitimacy of Authority:

Answer 11

An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are m-ore likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us
-Authority is justified by individuals position of power

Question 12

What were the three main factors to explain obedience suggested by Kelman and Hamilton (1989)?

Answer 12

• Legitimacy of the system
• Legitimacy of authority within the system
• Legitimacy of demands or orders given

Question 13

What is a legitimacy of the system?

Answer 13

This concerns the extent to which the ‘body’ is a legitimate source of authority

Question 14

What is an example of legitimacy of the system?

Answer 14

• Government
• Army
• School

Question 15

What is the legitimacy of authority within the system?

Answer 15

• Power of individuals hold to give orders because of their position in the system
• Linked with status

Question 16

What is the legitimacy of demands or orders given?

Answer 16

-Extent with which the order is perceived to be a legitimate area for the authority figure

Question 17

What is destructive authority?

Answer 17

Using legitimate power for destructive purposes

Question 18

What is an example of a destructive authority in real life?

Answer 18

Hitler

Question 19

What is an example of a destructive authority in Milgrams experiment?

Answer 19

Experimenter using prods

Question 20

Research which supports agentic state?

Answer 20

Blass and Schmitt (2001)

Question 21

What did Blass and Schmitt (2001) find?

Answer 21

Had a group of students identify who should be blamed for teachers action in Milgrams experiment

• Students blamed experimenter
• Believed participants were agents of authority

Question 22

Limitations of agentic state:

Answer 22

Dispostional rather than situational

-Cannot explain why people disobey authority figures

Question 23

Evaluation of legitimacy of authority in terms of cultural differences:

Answer 23

• GOOD

- Reflects the ways different societies are structured

Question 24

Who criticised Milgram for the obedience alibi?

Answer 24

Mandel (1998)