Social influence - situational explanations Flashcards
Agentic state
A mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure
Legitimacy of authority
An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us
Individuals position of power within a social hierarchy
Findings of Milgram’s original study - agentic state
Obedience was high in Milgram’s original study when the experimenter was in the same room as the participant (65%) but was reduced when Milgram asked the experimenter to give instructions via the telephone rather than being in the same room as the participant (20.5%)
Autonomous state
Acting on your own decisions
Agentic shift
Acting on the order of someone else who is perceived as having a higher authority
May occur when a person is able to diffuse responsibility for their actions onto another person. By doing this they no longer view themselves as acting out their own wishes but sees themselves as an agent of carrying out wishes of others
Binding factors?
Aspects of a situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the ‘moral strain’ they feel
Milgram proposed a number of strategies the individual uses, i.e shifting the responsibility to the victim
Procedure and findings of Milgram’s experiment - legitimacy of authority
Milgram conducted a variation of his experiment in a rundown office block. In this variation, 48% of participants obeyed 450 volts, compared to with 65% obedience in the prestigious university first used (Yale University).
The legitimacy of the university increased the power and authority of the experimenter, as well as the amount of trust the participants felt in them – leading to higher obedience rates
One strength of the agentic state
Research support
EVALUATION OF AGENTIC STATE: Research support
P - A strength of the agentic state as an explanation of obedience is that it has research support
E - For example, Dambrun and Vatiné found that the participants who gave the most electric shocks when ordered to do so in a torture simulation tended to hold the experimenter and the victim responsible for what happened, rather than themselves
E - This refusal to accept personal responsibility in participants who were most obedient showed that the agentic state does explain why people will obey even in situations where they know their actions are wrong
L - This increases the validity of the agentic state explanation of obedience
One limitation of the agentic state
Agentic shift doesn’t explain many research findings
EVALUATION: Agentic shift doesn’t explain many research findings
Rank and Jacobson’s study found that most nurses disobeyed a doctor’s order to give an excessive drug dose
The doctor, an authority figure, but the nurses remained autonomous and did not shift into an agentic state. The same is true for some of Milgram’s participants
This shows that agentic shift can only explain obedience in some situations, not all
Legitmacy of authority:
- We obey people further up a social hierarchy
- Authorities have legitimacy through society’s agreement
- We hand control over to authority figures
Most societies are structured hierarchically. People in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us
The powers that authorities wield is legitimate because it is agreed by society. Most of us accept that authority figures should exercise social power over others to allow society to function smoothly
People with LA have the power to punish other. We give up some indepence to people we trust to exercise authority properly e.g through childhood
Destructive authority
Problems arise when legitimate authority becomes destructive. History has too often shown that charismatic and powerful leaders such as Hitler can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes
Ordering people to behave in ways that are cruel and dangerous
e.g experimenter used prods to order participants to behave in ways that went against their consciences
Two strengths of legitimacy of authority
Research support
Can explain cultural differences
EVALUATION: Research support
P - There is research thatsupports legitimacy of authorityas an explanation for obedience is one of its advantages.
E - Tarnow, for instance, examined information from a US National Transport Safety Board analysis of air trafficaccidents. The captain’s authority played a significant role in 19 of the 37 incidents that were looked into, making co-pilots feel powerless to question incorrect judgements.
E - This demonstrates how the co-pilots’ loyalty to the captain’s lawful authority increased, ultimately resulting in accidents.
L - This strengthens the case for the legitimacy of authority as the justification for obedience. This enhances the case for the legitimacy of authority as the justification for obedience.
