social and psychological factors Flashcards
what is the agentic state?
the agentic state is the mental state where we feel no personal responsibilities for our behaviours as we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure freeing us from the demands of our consciences.
what is the autonomous state?
the autonomous state is the opposite of the agentic state, so the individual is free to behave accordingly to their own principles and so feels a sense of responsibility for their actions
what is the agentic shift?
the shift between autonomy and agency is the agentic shift, this occurs when a person perceives someone else to be an authority figure
what are binding factors?
these are aspects of a situation that allows a person to ignore the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the moral strain they are feeling, such as shifting the responsibilities to the victim
what is the legitimacy of authority
an explanation for obedience which states that we are more likely to obey someone who we perceive to have an authority over us
research support for explanations of obedience
in a research study where students were shown the film of milgram’s study, they were asked to identify who they felt was responsible for the harm of the learner and majority picked the experimenter due to legitimate authority as well as expert authority
a limitation for explanations of obedience
the agentic shift doesn’t explain many research findings as to why some participants do not obey and can only account for some situations of obedience
a strength for legitimacy of obedience
it is a useful account for cultural differences in obedience as replications of the milgram’s study show that 16% Australian participants went to the maximum voltage and 85% of German participants went to the maximum voltage showing that authority in some cultures is more likely to be accepted as legitimate. this reflects how different societies are structured and how children are brought up to perceived authority figures.
findings from cross cultural research increases the validity of the explanation
