Social influence(agentic state and legitimacy to authority)

Question 1

Agentic state -

Answer 1

A person sees themselves as an agent for carrying out another persons wishes, they see themselves as not seeing themselves responsible for their own actions, they see responsibility on someone else.

Question 2

Agentic shift -

Answer 2

• Movement of autonomous state (seen responsible for their actions) to the agentic state where they are seen as an agent for carrying out a persons wishes. Known as agentic shift.

Question 3

Reasons for this - Self-image at the agentic state.

Answer 3

One explanation is to keep a positive self-image, they may assess the consequences of the actions and refrain. However when shifted into the agentic state there is no longer a concern and it is no longer their responsibility and it no longer reflects their image, therefore from their perspective it is potentially guilt-free.

Question 4

Legitimacy of authority -

Answer 4

A person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation.

Question 5

Milgram’s belief of legitimacy of authority -

Answer 5

Shared expectation that among people in many situations that there is socially controlling figure, it may be defined from not the individuals characteristics but there perceived social status in a social situation.

Question 6

The agentic state explanation and real-life obedience -

Answer 6

Milgram claim that individuals shift back and fourth between the autonomous state and the agentic state fails to explain the transition found in Lifton’s doctors in Auschwitz, where they had gradually changed from normal medical professionals to, people willing to carry out vile and lethal experiments on helpless people. Staub suggests rather than the agentic shift explaining these causes in many holocaust perpetrators, it is the experience over a long time that changes the way individuals think and behave. So some real-life explanations may not offer support for the agentic shift and the idea of the agentic state explaining vile behaviour.

Question 7

Agentic shift or just not very nice?

Answer 7

Milgram believed in his findings agentic state best explained his findings, but there are other possibilities. For example in the Stanford prison experiments conducted by Zimbardo showed in just the first few days the guards inflicted cruelty on submissive prisoners even despite the fact there was no obvious authority figure. For some there may be a suggestion of the agentic shift from the perceived idea of an high authority figure like in Milgram’s research, but some may just show obedient behaviour due to a fundamental desire of inflicting harm on others.

Question 8

Progression of Agentic state - Autonomous position

Answer 8

Where a person sees themselves responsible for their own actions and choose to behave in particular ways under the impression that their actions have consequences.

Question 9

The progression of agentic state - Agentic shift

Answer 9

Where the switch of the autonomous position to the agentic state where a person perceives that they are carrying out the wishes of another person usually an authority figure this is when we the perception of legitimacy of authority.

Question 10

Legitimacy of authority may have to be paired with an institution -

Answer 10

Potentially for a person to have perceived legitimacy of authority then they must be in some sort of institutional structure (Military).

Question 11

Further evidence of the Agentic state and perceived obedience - Hofling (1966)

Answer 11

Boxes were placed in public and private psychiatric hospitals in the USA. They were labelled with ‘5mg capsules of Astrofen’ The labels also indicted the maximum dosage of being 10mg. Really the drugs were placebos (no effect). While the nurse was on duty the doctor (confederate) instructed the nurse to to give 20mg of Astrofen to a patient. The doctor would come see the patient 10 minutes later to sign some documents. To comply with the request she was breaking 3 rules. 1. the dose was exceeded. 2.The drugs should be given after written authority. 3. The nurse must be sure that it is a real doctor. 21/22 nurses complied and furthermore 11 out of the 22 noted the maximum dosage amount and still proceeded with the 20mg. Suggesting there is strong evidence for the agentic state even in distant proximity scenarios.