social influence: AGENTIC STATE Flashcards
What is an agentic state?
A state where a person does not take responsibility and acts on behalf of an authority figure
What happens during destructive obedience?
A person does not take responsibility for their actions > they act as agents for an authority figure.
What is the experience of an agent in the agentic state?
They experience moral strain when realizing their actions are wrong > However, they feel powerless to disobey.
What characterizes an autonomous state?
A person is free to behave according to their own principles and is responsible for their actions
What is the agentic shift according to Milgram?
It occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority with greater power > This shift influences their behavior.
What are binding factors?
Factors that keep a person in the agentic state by allowing them to ignore the damaging effects of their behavior > these reduce moral strain
In Milgram’s study, what was a binding factor?
The teacher could not see the learner > this factor contributed to the teacher’s ability to administer shocks.
AO3: research to support
The agentic state theory is supported by Milgram’s study of obedience
65% of Milgram’s participants obeyed orders from an authority figure and administered an electric shock of
450 volts to the learner. The majority of participants were acting as agents to the experimenter, who is seen as an authority figure. They believed the experimenter would take responsibility for their actions.
STRENGTH of the theory because the participants were in the agentic state.
However, 35% of participants did not obey orders from the authority figure and did not administer the maximum voltage of 450. Therefore the agentic state cannot explain why some people did not obey.
AO3: real life application
The theory can be used to explain the holocaust. The agentic state theory suggests that the German solders were acting as agents and hitler was seen as an authority figure. They killed innocent people because they believed Hilter would take responsibility for their actions.
The solders were in an agentic state.
STRENGTH because the theory can be used to explain real world events.
COUNTER: However, Mandel described an incident where German men obeyed the orders to shoot civilians in a small town in Poland. This was despite the fact that they did not have direct orders to do so (they were told they could be assigned to other duties if they preferred). This is a weakness because the behaviour of these men cannot be explained in terms of authority and an agentic shift.
AO3: limited explanation
One limitation is that the agentic shift does not explain many research findings about obedience
Rank and Jacobson found that 16 out of 18 hospital nurses disobeyed orders from a doctor to administer an excessive drug dose to a patient. The doctor was an obvious authority figure, but all the nurses remained autonomous, as did many of Milgram’s participants.
WEAKNESS as this suggests that, at best, the agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience
