Obedience: Social-Psychological Factors

Question 1

Agentic State

Answer 1

Mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour as we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure i.e. as their agent.

Question 2

Autonomous State

Answer 2

Opposite of Agentic state. Independence. Liberty. Feels responsibilty for their own actions. Shift from autonomy to agency is agentic shift.

Question 3

Binding Factors

Answer 3

Milgram observed that participants spoke as if they wanted to quit but they can’t. Due to binding factors: situation aspects that allow person to ignore their behaviour’s damaging effect and thus reduce moral strain they are feeling. This is done by shifting responsibility to victim or denying damage they were doing to victims.

Question 4

Legitimacy of authority.

Answer 4

Accept that people have some kind of authority over us: teachers, parents. It is legitimate as in it is agreed by society.

Question 5

Consequences of LoA

Answer 5

Some people are granted the power to punish others. Accept the power so we give up our independence and hand control.

Question 6

Destructive Authority

Answer 6

Problems arise when legitimate authority becomes destructive. Shows clearly in Milgram’s exp.: when experimenter used prods to order participants to behave in ways that were against their conscience.

Question 7

Strength (Blass & Schmitt)

Answer 7

Showed Milgram’s exp to students and asked them who was responsible for harm to learner. Blamed experimenter due to legitimate authority (top of hierarchy) but also he was a scientist.

Question 8

Weakness

Answer 8

Limited explanation. Agentic shift doesn’t explain why some of participants didn’t obey. Agentic shift explanation doesn’t explain Hofling’s exp. If agentic state, the nurses should have got anxious when obeying to doctor’s destructive demands. But this didn’t happen. Shows agentic shift can only account for some obedience situations.

Question 9

Strength

Answer 9

Cultural differences. Kilham & Mann replicated Milgram’s exp in Aus & 16% went to top of voltage scale. Mantell carried same exp in Germany & 85% went to top. Shows some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate. Reflects ways that different societies are structured & how children are raised to perceive authority figures. Increased validity.

Question 10

Strength

Answer 10

Helps explain how obedience can lead to real life war crimes. Helps understand hierarchy.