Social Influence: Agentic state +legitimacy of authority Flashcards
What are the 2 explanations for obedience?
Agentic state
Legitimacy of authority
Define agentic state
When a person sees themselves as an agent for carrying out another person’s wishes, even if they contradict our personal sense of right and wrong.
Define legitimate authority
A person who is perceived to be in a position of social control in a situation.
What are the 2 explanations for obedience?
Agentic state
Legitimacy of authority
Why does obedience occur in agentic state?
Obedience may occur because people see themselves as ‘agents of authority’ and blindly carry out orders without questioning them.
What is the agentic shift?
Moving from an autonomous state —> agentic state.
Most of the time in our daily lives we act autonomously (under our own free will).
When a person is placed in a social hierarchy, and take orders from authority, we defer to the person in charge and shift responsibility to them.
What does a binding factor do + what is it?
Aspects of the situation that keeps the person in an agentic state
Allows the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effects of their actions.
How does Milgram’s study show evidence of the agentic state?
Variations of Milgram’s variations study supports the agentic shift as it highlights the power of shifting responsibility (agentic shift) as these ppts were able to shift their responsibility to the experimenter.
How does legitimate authority influence obedience?
More likely to obey (agentic shift) if authority figure is morally credible and legitimate.
What is required for an authority to be legitimate?
An institution.
Milgram showed it doesn’t have to be reputable (run-down condition).
Category of institution more important.
What are the 4 AO3 points for agentic state + legitimacy of authority?
-Lack of mundane realism
-Contradictory evidence
-ethical weakness
+RLA
(-AO3) How does the agentic state + legitimacy of authority show. lack of mundane realism?
Milgram’s study uses very unrealistic tasks which would never be encountered in everyday life.
His study may explain obedience in extreme scenarios but not in day-to-day obedient scenarios.
Therefore, his study lacks external validity.
So, using Milgram’s study to base the explanation of legitimacy of authority and agentic state is largely unreliable.
(-AO3) What is the contradictory evidence for AS+LoA?
Zimbardo’s SPE.
Ppts inflicted increasingly cruel acts on prisoners despite having no authority figure.
Other explanations for obedience such as situational variables must also have an important role.
However, it also could be argued that Milgram’s study allowed sadistic impulses to show.
(-AO3) What is the ethical weakness of AS+LoA?
Prevents individuals from facing consequences for their actions which may justify harming others.
These explanations don’t account for free will, which is damaging in everyday situations as a court of law holds people accountable and a theory must accept individual differences and personality types.
What is the RLA for AS+LoA?
My Lai Massacres by American soldiers pillaging (robbing with violence) in Vietnamese villages.
Agentic state is shown as the soldiers were following orders from their generals which also showcases an agentic shift as they may have also shifted their responsibility to them.
Legitimacy of authority is also shown as the soldiers received orders from a high-ranking position in the US army which also shows a social hierarchy.
This suggests that both theories are valid.
