Social influence- Explanations for obediance (Agenetic state + legitimacy of authority) Flashcards
Milgram’s study was based on the concept of what?
Agency theory
What does an individual feel if they are in an agentic state?
As if the are not associated/ removed from their actions
Give 2 examples of the agentic state
-Opening fire on unarmed civilians because commanders were ordered to (this occured during the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam War)
-Ignoring a friend because the most popular/influential friend in your group told you to
What does agentic state allow people to do? Why?
-Allows people to minimise their responsibility and guilt about their negative actions
-Because they are acting under somebody elses order
Link the 2 examples to agentic state
-Individuals who committed the harm can be in denial and pass on the blame to whoever issued the order
-They do not accept the blame for the consequences of their actions
The agentic state is made possible by the presence of what?
a legitimate authority figure who has the status/position to issue demands or orders
What do social hierarchies stand or fall according to?
Whether people adhere to the norms expected of them in society
The higher the somebody is up on a hierarchy, the more you expect 1.____/______ from those lower down
1.Obediance/compliance
Why do people obey orders from those above them?
-Responsibility for actions can be shifted onto them
Being part of a social hierarchy is a binding factor that may contribute to what?
-Destructive obediance
Define binding factor
-Aspects of a situation that allows people to ignore the damaging effects/conseqquences of their actions
How is Milgram’s study linked to agentic state?
-A moral strain was imposed on the participants (acting against your own moral belifs/values)
-Participants could shift responsibilty for their actions onto the experiment
-This eases the burden of guilt and shame of inflicting harm on somebody who has not harmed you
Define an authority figuire
anyone who has a legitimate status to issue orders
Explain what is meant by official and unofficail authority fiquires
-Official- somebody who is qualified to have authority and is actually meant to (eg. poilice officier)
-Unoffcial- somebody who isnt qualified to have authority and isnt meant to (eg. school bully)
Can authority figuires be perceived?
Yes
Is it nesscary for social heiriarchies to exist? Explain why?
-Yes
-Somebody needs to be in control and decide how things run otherwise things would descend into chaos n
What are the findings of Bickmans research?
-People were more likely to obey a confederate dressed as a security guard than when the confederate was dressed as a milkman or in plain clothes
-The plain clothes condition resulted in the lowest levels of obedience
-Uniform gains the most authority
What may lack of obediance result in?
-Punishment
-Withdrawal of social approval (a binding factor)
Give a strength of agency theory?
-Strong external valditiy
-Examples of agentic state and destructive obedience to an authority figure can be seen in acts of atrocity throughout history, e.g.
-the holocaust in Nazi Germany was only made possible by thousands of ordinary people obeying horrific orders and directives from above
-My Lai massacre in the vietnam war
-The results of these events can be understood and so can be used to prevent more events which is useful and impactful
Give a strength of legitimacy of authority (research evidence)
-Supporting research evidence
-Blass & Schmitt (2001) showed a film of Milgram’s original obedience study to students and asked them to identify who they felt was responsible for the harm to the learner (person who is shocked)
The students blamed the experimenter rather than the participant, stating that it was the experimenter was both the legitimate authority and the expert authority (i.e. a scientist).
-The above finding shows that the legitimacy of authority is a valid concept when discussing destructive obedience
Give a limitation of agency theory
-Cant explain why some people do not obey
-Even when it would be justidiable to blame somebody else fo their actions
-Only offers a situational explanation and not dispositional
Give a limitation of both
-Deterministic
-Implies that those who commit acts of destructive obedience have no control over their actions
-negates the idea of people as autonomous and able to exercise free will
