Social influence 3 | Explanations for obedience Flashcards
AO1: What is the agentic state in obedience?
The agentic state is when individuals see themselves as an agent for carrying out another person’s orders shifting responsibility onto the authority figure.
AO1: What is moral strain in the agentic state?
Moral strain occurs when an individual obeys orders that conflict with their personal morals but continues because they feel responsibility lies with the authority figure.
AO1: What is legitimacy of authority in obedience?
Legitimacy of authority refers to the perception that an authority figure has the right to issue orders often based on their position in a social hierarchy.
AO1: How does legitimacy of authority lead to obedience?
People are more likely to obey those they perceive as having legitimate authority because they assume they have control over social order and are acting within social norms.
AO1: What is proximity in Milgram’s research on obedience?
Proximity refers to the physical closeness of the authority figure to the participant or the participant to the victim in an obedience scenario.
AO1: How did proximity affect obedience in Milgram’s study?
When the experimenter was in the same room obedience was 65% but when orders were given over the phone obedience dropped to 20.5%.
AO1: What is location in Milgram’s research on obedience?
Location refers to the setting in which obedience takes place which can influence perceived legitimacy of authority.
AO1: How did location affect obedience in Milgram’s study?
When the study was moved from Yale University to a run-down office obedience dropped from 65% to 47.5% showing that legitimacy of location affects obedience.
AO1: What is the role of uniform in obedience?
Uniform acts as a visual cue of legitimate authority increasing obedience as people perceive those in uniform as having more power.
AO1: What did Bickman’s study find about uniform and obedience?
Bickman found that people were more likely to obey instructions from a researcher dressed as a security guard compared to a civilian showing that uniform increases obedience.
AO1: What is the Authoritarian Personality?
A personality type characterised by strict adherence to conventional values respect for authority and hostility towards those of lower status.
AO1: How did Adorno measure the Authoritarian Personality?
Adorno used the F-scale questionnaire to assess authoritarian traits finding that those with high scores showed greater obedience to authority figures.
AO1: How does the Authoritarian Personality explain obedience?
People with an Authoritarian Personality have a strong respect for authority rigid beliefs and a tendency to obey orders without question.
AO1: What was Milgram’s method in his obedience study?
Milgram recruited 40 male participants who were told they were in a study on learning. They were instructed to administer increasingly severe electric shocks to a learner (a confederate) whenever they gave a wrong answer. The shocks were fake but participants believed they were real.
AO1: What were the results of Milgram’s study?
Milgram found that 65% of participants administered the highest shock level of 450V and all participants continued to at least 300V demonstrating high levels of obedience to authority.
AO3: What research supports the agentic state explanation?
Milgram’s study found that participants obeyed orders even when distressed often justifying their actions by saying they were just following orders supporting the agentic state.
AO3: What is a limitation of the agentic state as an explanation for obedience?
It does not explain why some people disobey authority even in highly controlled situations suggesting other factors like personality influence obedience.
AO3: What research supports the effect of uniform on obedience?
Bickman’s field experiment found that people were more likely to obey a researcher dressed as a security guard than one in casual clothing supporting Milgram’s findings.
AO3: Why might Milgram’s research on situational variables lack ecological validity?
His lab setting and artificial task may not reflect real-world obedience situations meaning the findings may not generalise to everyday life.
AO3: What research supports the Authoritarian Personality explanation for obedience?
Adorno et al. found that those who scored highly on the F-scale were more likely to obey authority supporting the dispositional explanation of obedience.
AO3: What is a key limitation of the Authoritarian Personality explanation for obedience?
It only shows correlation not causation meaning other factors like upbringing or social context may influence obedience more than personality traits.
AO3: How do situational and dispositional explanations interact in obedience?
Situational factors like proximity and uniform can influence obedience but individual differences such as personality also play a role suggesting a combination of both explanations is most valid.
