obedience: social-psychological factors Flashcards
What are the social psychological factors that contribute to obedience?
Agentic state
Legitimacy of authority
Why was Milgram interested in obedience?
Trial of Eichmann
Eichmann in charge of Nazi death camps
Defence - only obeying orders
What conclusion did Eichmann’s trial lead Milgram to?
Obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person does not take responsibility
They act as an agent for someone else
What is an agent?
Acts in place of another or for someone else
Experiences high anxiety but feel powerless to disobey
What is the agentic state?
Feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour
Frees us from demands of conscience
What is the autonomous state?
Free to behave according to principles
Feels responsibility for actions
What is the agentic shift?
Shift from autonomy to agency
Occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure
AF has greater power because of social hierarchy
When one person is in charge others defer to this person and shift from autonomy to agency
What are binding factors?
Aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise their behaviour
Reduces moral strain
Strategies - shift responsibility to victim or deny damage they’re doing
Agentic state evaluation - research support
Blass and Schmitt - showed film of Milgram’s study to students
Asked who was responsible
Blamed experimenter - legitimate authority (top of hierarchy) and expert authority (scientist)
Recognised legitimate authority as cause of obedience
Agentic state evaluation - limited explanation
Doesn’t explain why some didn’t obey
Social animals so should always obey social hierarchy
Does not support Hofling - nurses should have shown anxiety but didn’t
Only accounts for some obedience
Agentic state evaluation - obedience alibi
Evidence that Nazi behaviour cannot be explained by authority and agency
Germans obeyed orders to shoot civilians in Poland
They did not have direct orders - could be assigned somewhere else
How is authority legitimate?
Authority agreed by society
We accept authority figures have to be allowed power so society can function smoothly
What are the consequences of legitimacy of authority?
Some can punish others
We give up independence and hand control of behaviour to people we trust to exercise authority
When do we learn acceptance of legitimate authority?
From childhood
Parents and teachers
How does legitimate authority become destructive?
Use legitimate powers for destructive purposes
Experimenter ordered pps to act against conscience
