social influence 4.1.1 - obedience

Question 1

What is agent state?

Answer 1

A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour as we believe ourselves to be ‘acting’ for an authoritative figure.

Question 2

What is an autonomous state?

Answer 2

Being independent and free with a sense of responsibility

Question 3

What is the agentic shift?

Answer 3

autonomous to agent when one sole individual is in charge others shift from autonomous to the agentic state

Question 4

What are binding factors?

Answer 4

allows a person to ignore the damaging effect of their behaviour - minimise moral strain

Question 5

what is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 5

we are most likely to obey people who have perceived authority above us, obedience justified by social hierarchy.

Question 6

what is destructive authority?

Answer 6

using legitimate power for destruction (Hitler,stalin,musolini)

Question 7

AO3 strengths psychological factors in reference to miligram

Answer 7

• Research support -Blass + Schmidt
  Showed students film of milgram and they recognized experimenter as authoritative figure  supports as they recognized him as cause of obedience
• Real life application  can explain real life war crimes
• My Lai massacre explained by US army  authority explanation give reasons for destructive obedience
• Cross cultural replications  16% Australians 85% German ppt
  Authority more likely to be accepted in certain societies  reflects how different societies are structured  increases validity

Question 8

AO3 weaknesses psychological factors in reference to miligram

Answer 8

• Limited explanation –> some people didn’t obey  agentic shift isn’t all
• Cannot account for behaviour of Nazis  reserve police men shot civillians in a small town they did this eve though not directly ordered  were not powerless to disobey
• Lifton  Auschwitz doctors had changed into capable of evil
  Staub  Instead of agentic shift for holocaust perpetrators is doing evil over time changes our behaviour
• Agentic shift is to simple  other factors such as environmental e.g SPE only ¼ guards acted brutal ( a role for personality differences)  doesn’t account for individual differences
• Obedience alibi

Question 9

What is the authoritarian personality?

Answer 9

A type of personality that is susceptible to obeying people in authority.Such individuals are thought to be submissive to those in a higher position.

Question 10

What is the origin of the authoritative personality?

Answer 10

Childhood experiences and upbringing can lead to hostility and aggression which they’ll display onto others

Question 11

What does Ardorno believe causes the authoritarian personality?

Answer 11

Sugests that those with the authoritarian personality had their personality shaed in earlier life by strict authoritarian parenting with harsh physical punishments

Suggests this anger is displaced onto others

Question 12

Physically punished

Answer 12

Grow up to believe in a rigid approach to rules and life. → generational impact as this is often displaced onto their children

Question 13

Punitive punishment

Answer 13

Natural instincts are suppressed → have a later life consequence

Question 14

Stunting child emotion

Answer 14

What is unacceptable to them is that they project these extreme opinions onto minority groups.

Question 15

Ultimatum

Answer 15

resentment and hostility - displacement of anger

Question 16

Adorno aim

Answer 16

To research the causes of the authoritarian personality.

Question 17

Adorno procedure

Answer 17

• A personality study
• 2000 middle class Americans > to test their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
• Created scale response questionaire

Question 18

Adorno Findings

Answer 18

Those with higher scores = authoritarian personality

• identify as strong people and have contempt for weaker lower classes
• Have excessive respect and servility to those of higher class
• Adorno found that authoritarian personality had fixed stereotypes about other groups
  CORRELATION BETWEEN AUTHORITARIAN AND PREJUDICE

Question 19

Adorno Conclusions

Answer 19

• people with authoritative personality tend to be obedient
• They have extreme respect for authority
• show contempt for people they seem inferior
• Belief society needs traditional leaders
• Inflexible in their viewpoint

Question 20

AO3 evaluation Adorno
Politically bias

Answer 20

• only measure the tendency to right wing ideology

Limitation that is is not comprehensive (relatable to all) cannot account for the whole political spectrum

Question 21

AO3 evaluation Adorno
Limited explanation

Answer 21

• Individual personality - not generalisable to whole population

Such as millions of germans displayed anti-semetic views but don’t all have the same personality

A clear limitation as social factors are much more realistic explanation

Question 22

AO3 evaluation Adorno
Methodological

Answer 22

based on flawed methodology

Greenstein ‘ a comedy of methodological errors’

The wording of questions encourages agreement –> not all authoritarian

people already knew aim - biased

Puts validity into question

Question 23

AO3 evaluation Adorno Correlations

Answer 23

Adorno matured a range of variables and found many relevant correlations

BUT correlations don’t be causation so other factors influencing so cannot claim harsh parenting causing this personality.

Question 24

Elms and Milgram 1966 Procedure

Answer 24

Carried out a follow up study to Milgram

• 20 (obedient) + 20(defiant) ppt
• Each ppt completed a MMPI ( personality test) and the f-scale
• PPt also asked open ended questions about (family, attitudes with experimenter and learner)

Question 25

Elms and Milgram 1966 findings

Answer 25

Found a little difference between obedient and defiant ppt on mmpi

But found more authoritarian among ppl classified as obedient

Obedient saw experimenter as admirable rather than learner

Question 26

Elms and Milgram 1966 conclusion

Answer 26

The obedient group was higher on the trait of authoritarianism.