Social Influence: Explanations of obedience

Question 1

What did Milgram argue in regards to dispositional explanations?

Answer 1

Obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person becomes an agent

Question 2

What is an agent?

Answer 2

Someone who acts for or in place of someone else

Question 3

What is the agentic state?

Answer 3

Person feels no personal responsibility for their own actions

Question 4

What is the autonomous state?

Answer 4

Someone behaves according to their own principles and feels responsible for their own actions

Question 5

What is the agentic shift?

Answer 5

The shift from the autonomous state to the agentic state when we percieve someone else as an authority figure

Question 6

What makes someone an authority figure?

Answer 6

They have a high place on the societal hierarchy which is collectivley agreed and give up some of our independence bc we trust they will excerise power properly for society to run smoothly

Question 7

What has been shown historically in regards to authority fugures?

Answer 7

Some leaders use legitimate authority destructivley, ordering some people to behave in cruel and dangerous ways

Question 8

What is the strength of the agentic state that suggests there is research support?

Answer 8

• Many of Milgram’s ppts asked experimentor who is responsible if someone is harmed and when he claimed responsibility they went through with procedure
• Ppts acted more easily as agent when they believed they were not responsible for their behaviour

Question 9

What is the limitation that suggests that the agentic shift doesn’t explain many research findings?

Answer 9

• Rank + Jacobson found most nurses disobeyed doctors order to give excessive drug dose
• Doctor was authority figure but nurses remained autonomous
• Only explain obedience in some situations

Question 10

What is the strength of dispositional explanations that suggests legitimacy of authority can explain cultural differences?

Answer 10

• Countries differ in obedience to authority
• Kilham + Mann, 16% of Australian women
• Mantell, 85% German ppts
• Authority is more likely to be seen as legitimate in some cultures, reflecting upbringing

Question 11

What is the limitation of dispositional explanations that suggests not all evidence supports agentic shift?

Answer 11

• Mandel, Men of Battalion 101 did not have direct orders to shoot civilians in Polish town but still performed massacre autonomously
• Agentic shift is not required for destructive behaviour

Question 12

Who are the key thinkers in dispositional explanations?

Answer 12

Milgram
Rank + Jacobson
Kilham + Mann
Manetell
Mandel

Question 13

What are the titles of the evaluation points for dispositional explanations?

Answer 13

• Agentic state has research support
• Agentic shift doesn’t support research findings
• Legitimacy of authority explains cultural differences
• Not all evidence supports agentic shift

Question 14

What did Rank + Jacobson suggest as a limitation of agentic shift?

Answer 14

Many nurses disobeyed doctors orders to give excessive dose of drug even though authority figure

Question 15

What did Kilham + Mann suggest as a strength of dispositional explanations?

Answer 15

16% of Australian women obeyed legitimate authority

Question 16

What did Manetell suggest as a strength of dispositional explanations?

Answer 16

85% of German ppts obeyed legitmate authority

Question 17

What did Mandel suggest as a limitation of dispostional explanations?

Answer 17

Men of Battalion 101 didn’t have direct orders to shoot up civilians in Polish town but performed massacre autonomously