Psychological Explanations for Obedience Flashcards
State the 2 psychological explanations for obedience:
- Agentic state
- Legitamacy of authority
Explain Agentic state:
- People may obey authority bc believe they r acting as ‘agent’ on behalf of authority figure. When in an agentic state - more likely to obey
- Individual in ‘agentic state’ holds authority figure responsible for their own actions
- Agentic - opposite of autonomous state - when ppl act on their own principles + take responsibility for their own actions. Ppl r typically in autonomous state, but shit to agentic when given orders by authority figure.
- Switching from autonomous - agentic = agentic shift
Definition of autonomous state:
When ppl act on their own principles + take responsibility for their own actions.
What is it called when a person switches from an autonomous to an agentic state?
Agentic shift
How did Milgram investigate Agentic state?
By interviewing his ppts during debrief stage + ask them why they obeyed the experiment. Many reported that they knew it was wrong to deliver dangerous electric shocks but felt the experimenter was responsible for their actions and not them - they shifted responsibility to figure of authority
Explain Legitimacy of Authority:
- LoA refers to amount of perceived social power held by person giving instructions
- Social power often associated w/ social roles (e.g. police officers) or social states (e.g. older family members)
- If u perceive someone as having social power- u see them as legitimate authority figure - more likely to obey them
- Particularly if authority figure has power to punish us OR we trust their instructions
How did Milgram investigate Legitimacy of Authority:
He conducted several variations of his study that affected legitimacy of authority figure. Each time legitimacy was undermined- such as by replacing the authority figure w/ a member of the public, levels of obedience decreased. - more likely to obey an authority figure we consider legitimate.
Strength of agentic state as explanation of obedience - supporting research.
Dambrun + Vatine (2010) - ppts who gave most electric shocks when ordered to do so in torture simulation-hold experimenter and victim responsible, rather than themselves. SB: shows that ppl who obey more are more obedient bc they shift responsibility of actions to others.
Increases validity of agentic state as psychological explanation of obedience.
Strength of legitimacy of authority… - real life supporting evidence.
Tarnow (2000) studied data from US National Transport Safety Board review of air traffic accidents. 19/37 accidents investigated - major contributory factor was authority of captain - copilots felt unable to challenge wrong decisions.
SB: shows ppl do infact obey more when percieve authority figure as having social power. + Shows how strong LoA is as factor - led to obedience even when they believe that what they r obeying is wrong.
As this is real life support - shows LoA affects obedience IRL.
Increases validity of LoA as explanation of obedience
Limitation of agentic state - research investigating this explanation is gender biased.
Milgram’s research used only male ppts. Limitation as we do not know if LoA has same effect on females as it does on male obedience.
E.g Kilham and Mann’s (1974) found evidence of lower rates of obedience in females compared to males - suggesting may b less likely to enter agentic state when in presence of authority figure and remain in autonomous state.
Reduces population validity of research into role of LoA in obedience and the explanation itself.
Weakness of psychological explanations of obedience - fails to account for role of dispositional factors.
E.g. Adorno argued individuals who had strict upbringing develop authoritarian personality + have excessive respect for authority + r highly obedient.
Elms + Milgram (1966) showing that obedient ppts in Milgram’s study were more likely to have an authoritarian personality (shown by higher scores on the F-scale) compared w/ disobedient ppts.
WB: shows psychological factors r not the only influence on obedience, dispositional factors like authoritarian personality also plays a role.
Decreases validity of psychological explanations of obedience.
