SI- Situational Explanations of Obedience Flashcards
What are the main two situational explanations of obedience?
1) The agentic state
2) Legitimacy of Authority
In which two different ways do people operate in social situations?
- Milgram proposed the Agentic State Theory.:
- Milgram explained the importance of responsibility through this theory. He argued that people operate in two different ways in social situations:
1) When acting as independent individuals, people are aware of the consequences of their actions and make decisions knowing they will be held account for the consequences. This is also known as the AUTONOMIC STATE.
2) When in an AGENTIC STATE (state in which a person carries out orders with little personal responsibility) an individual sees themselves as under the authority of another, not responsible for the actions they take. In this state they will often carry out an order without question.
What is the agentic shift?
- The change from an AUTONOMIC (independent) state to the AGENTIC state is known as the agentic shift.
When does the agentic shift occur?
- Milgram (1974) suggested that the agentic shift occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority.
- This other person has greater power because of their position in a social hierarchy.
Why does the individual remain in the agentic state?
- (gradual commitment): If people start small then it is easier to do something bad. In Milgram’s original electric shock experiment (Milgram, 1963), participants started by administering a 15 volt shock which was small and relatively harmless. The shock levels gradually increased in 15 volt increments
- people are psychologically protected from the consequences of their actions (buffers). Buffers are anything that reduce the depersonalisation of the victim- the diff variations got rid of the buffer
- One explanation for why people adopt an agentic state is to maintain a positive self-image.
- It does not matter what negative behaviour they show, because they are not responsible for their actions.
- Once a person has entered an agentic state they stay in it because they are concerned that breaking their commitment to the authority figure would seem arrogant and rude
Evaluate the agentic state explanation. (ADVANTAGES)
1) Being in close proximity to Mr. Wallace and seeing him in pain (i.e. there were no buffers) would have prevented some participants from going into an agentic state- 40% obedience in same room. 30% in touch variations. 92.5% obedience in administer variation - no personal responsibility
2) Blass and Smith support agentic state , when shown videos of milligrams original study many ppt placed blame on the experimenter rather than the teacher for the electric shocks. However it is also worth noting that 35% did not go up to maximum voltage in Milgram’s study so agentic state is a limited explanation.
Evaluate the agentic state. (DISADVANTAGES)
1) Without buffers people should not go into an agentic state and obey an order to harm someone. -However, Mandel (1998) reported the case of Major Trapp.
- In the Polish village, Major Trapp was given orders to take a large group of Jewish people to the edge of the village and have them shot.
- Although the members of his battalion were given the chance to say no, and be assigned to other duties, few did, and the massacre went ahead.
- This occurred despite the victims being in close proximity to the soldiers.
What is the legitimate authority explanation?
- Legitimate authority is another situational explanation of obedience; it claims that people are more likely to obey an order given by someone who has legitimate authority. People are most obedient when the authority figure is considered credible and legitimate
Legitimate social power is held by authority figures (e.g. police officers and teachers) whose role is defined by society, it is perceived from status not personality of an individual.
This usually gives the person the right to exert control over behaviour of others and others will usually accept it
- Legitimate authority can be shown through symbols of power, such as uniform.
- Sometimes legitimate authority requires an institution/location(e.g. the military or a prison/school), especially if the commands are potentially harmful or destructive.
(MILGRAM’S uniform variation + location variation support LOA)
Evaluate legitimate authority.(ADVANTAGE)
1) Hofling (1966) found that nurses would obey a dangerous order from a doctor because they were in a hospital location.
- Nurses received a phone call from an unknown doctor (who was really an actor) called Dr.Smith.
- He asked her to administer 20 milligrams of a drug called Astroten to a patient.
- This broke hospital rules as it was twice the maximum dose (as indicated on the bottle), the instructions were given over the phone, the doctor was unknown, and the medicine was not on the stock list.
- 95% of nurses carried out these instructions despite the potential danger.
2) Bickman (1974) asked confederates to order passersby to pick some litter off the street or move away from a bus stop.
- The confederates were dressed as either a guard, milkman or just in smart clothes.
- 39% of people obeyed the guard but only 14% obeyed the milkman
- A person in a guard uniform is more likely to be perceived as a legitimate authority figure.
3) Milgram conducted a variation of his experiment in a rundown office block. In this variation, 48% of participants obeyed 450 volts, compared to with 65% obedience in the prestigious university first used (Yale University). The legitimacy of the university increased the power and authority of the experimenter, as well as the amount of trust the participants felt in them – leading to higher obedience rates . In the uniform variation - dropped to 20%, suggesting that uniform holds a symbol of power and respect and gives a person authority.
Evaluate legitimate authority. (DISADVANTAGES)
1) However, not all legitimate authority figures should be obeyed.
- Sometimes we will obey a legitimate authority figure because of their status even if we disagree with their order. -Milgram’s study showed that people will obey a legitimate authority figure even if obedience led to harm to another person
- In real life there have been examples of legitimate authority figures who have abused their power.
- Harold Shipman, as a doctor, was a well known example; because he was a trusted, justified authority figure he was able to kill over 200 patients without suspicion.
- This suggests that a balance must be struck between teaching children to obey authority figures, but also encouraging them to sometimes question the orders they give
2) 35% did not go up to highest voltage in milgram’s study meaning that other factors like dispositional factors could affect obedience, LOA is quite reductionist as it only looks at the situational factors affecting obedience.
