PAPER 1 - Social Influence Flashcards
What is the AGENTIC STATE ?
putting the responsibility of our actions on someone else
What is the AUTONOMOUS STATE ?
when we take responsibility for our own actions
What are BINDING FACTORS ?
aspects of situation that allow a person to ignore the damaging effect of their behaviour
What is LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY ?
we are more likely to obey when we believe an authority is legitimate
What are the two explanations for obedience ?
agentic state and legitimate authority
What are the traits of someone with an authoritarian personality ?
- hostile
- fairly rigid in beliefs
- conventional / traditional
(Adorno F-scale)
What are the characteristics of INTERNAL LoC ?
- independent
- active seekers of info
- less likely to conform / obey
- don’t rely on external opinions
What are the characteristics of EXTERNAL LoC ?
- less independent
- rely on others for info
- more likely to conform / obey
- rely on external opinions
What is OBEDIENCE ?
- within HIERARCHY
- emphasis on POWER
- pp embrace obedience to explain behaviour
What is CONFORMITY ?
- between EQUAL STATUS
- emphasis on ACCEPTANCE
- pp deny conformity
Who investigated obedience to an authority ?
MILGRAM (1963) - Electric shock
How did MILGRAM study obedience to an authority ?
- teacher / learner (always teacher)
- read word pairs
- read first word and match second
- wrong = shock
What were the results of MLGRAM’S study ?
240 volts - 100%
300 volts - 87.5%
360 volts - 76.6%
420 volts - 65%
450 volts - 63%
What are the STRENGTHS of legitimate authority ?
APPLICATIONS
- Kelman and Hamilton
- My Lai Massacre
- power hierarchy of US Army
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
- Tarnow (2000)
- dependence on captain
- second officer didn’t bring up odd behaviour
What are the WEAKNESSES of legitimate authority ?
OTHER EXPLANATIONS
- gradual commitment
- obey small requests leads to bigger ones
- cannot assume legitimate authority is the only reason
JUSTIFY HARMING OTHERS
- no longer feel own moral values