Social Influence

Question 1

Outline what is meant by the agentic state as an explanation of obedience (2)

Answer 1

• person sees themselves as agent for carrying out authority figures
• feels no personal responsibility
• opposite of autonomous state

Question 2

Describe 2 ethical issues of Milgram’s research + how they can be dealt with ?

Answer 2

• deception = p’s believed shocks were real + thought they had an equal chance of being learner or teacher, however it was rigged real p was always teacher
• right to withdraw made unclear = experimenter used prods when p wanted to stop
• deal by debriefing p’s afterwards and tell them aim + purpose of why deception was necessary + give them right to withdraw data

Question 3

what are binding factors in the agentic state ?

Answer 3

• keep a person in the agentic state by minimising the damaging effects of behaviour being carried out

Question 4

describe legitiamcy of authority as an explanation for obedience ?

Answer 4

• Person recognises own and others position in social hierarchy authority has higher position
• recognise authority’s position to issue demands due to higher position

-legitimacy of authority requires an institution , however does not have to be reputable

-legitimacy increased by visible signs of authority eg. uniform

Question 5

describe authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience ? (7)

Answer 5

• Strict adherence to conventional values
• Developed by strict parenting style
• High obedience to authority figures
• Parents give them conditional love
• displacement of feelings due to fear of parents leading to scapegoating (blaming others)
• Hostile towards those of lower social status and those who don’t follow conventional norms
• Measured using the California F scale developed by Adorno