situational explanations of obedience Flashcards
what is agentic state?
a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe that we are acting for an authority figure. It allows us to be free from the demands of our consciousness and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure.
what is autonomous state?
when a person is free to behave according to their own principles and feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions. The person is independent
what is the period between agentic and autonomous state called?
agentic shift
what is agentic shift?
occurs when a person perceives someone as an authority figure who has more power than them. Therefore, you realise you aren’t responsible for your actions as your only doing what you’ve been told to do so the blame shifts onto someone else
what is a strength of agentic state as a situational explanations of obedience? (Milgram)
One strength is that Milgram’s own studies support the role of the agentic state in obedience. Most of Milgram’s ppts resisted giving the shocks and often questioned the experimenter. When the experimenter told them that he was responsible for the harm caused the ppts went through with the procedure with no further objections. This shows that once ppts realised they weren’t responsible for their actions, they acted as the experimenters agent and obeyed their authority
what is a limitation of agentic shift as an situational explanation of obedience? (Can’t explain findings)
one limitation is that agentic shift doesn’t explain many research findings about obedience. For example, Rank and Jacobson found that 16 out of 18 nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to administer an excessive drug dose to a patient. The doctor was an obvious authority figure but almost all of the nurses remained autonomous. This suggests that agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience
what is legitimacy of authority?
an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who have authority over us. This authority is justified (legitimate) by the individuals position of power within a social hierarchy.
what is a consequence of legitimacy of authority?
some people are granted the power to punish others. We are willing to give up some of our independence and to hand control of our behaviour over to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately
what is destructive authority?
history has shown that charismatic and powerful leaders (such as Hitler) can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes, ordering people to behave in ways that are dangerous. This is obvious in Milgram’s study when the experimenter used prods to get the ppt to behave in certain ways that went against their consciences
what is a strength of legitimacy of authority as a situational explanation of obedience? (Cultural differences)
it is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience. For example, Kilham and Mann found that only 16% of Australian women went all the way up to 450v in a Milgram-style study. However a separate study found that 85% of German ppts went up to 450v. This shows that in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience. This reflects the ways that different societies are structured and how people are raised to perceive authority figures
what is a limitation of legitimacy of authority as a situational explanation of obedience? (Disobedience)
it cant explain instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy of authority is accepted and clear.
