SOCIAL INFLUENCE - social-psychological factors of obedience

Question 1

what are the two social-psychological factors of obedience?

Answer 1

• agentic state

- legitimacy of authority

Question 2

what is the ‘agentic state’?

Answer 2

• a mental state where one feels no personal responsibility for their actions
  (acting on behalf of someone else)

Question 3

how does the ‘agentic state’ occur?

Answer 3

• undergoes ‘agentic shift’ from the ‘autonomous state’ of independence
• occurs when one perceives someone else as having more authority in the social hierarchy

Question 4

why do people remain in the ‘agentic state’?

Answer 4

• binding factors allow people to minimise the damage they are doing
• may shift responsibility to the victim themself

Question 5

what is ‘legitimacy of authority’?

Answer 5

• an explanation for obedience that suggests one will obey people who have authority over them

Question 6

how is one’s authority established?

Answer 6

• agreed by society to allow it to function smoothly

Question 7

what is a consequence of ‘legitimacy of authority’?

Answer 7

• allows some people to punish others and thus give up independence to these authority figures

Question 8

what is ‘destructive authority’?

Answer 8

• when one uses their authority in dangerous ways

hitler, stalin, etc.

Question 9

EVALUATION

what did BLASS and SCHMITT do? and how does this relate to MILGRAM’s social-psychological factors?

Answer 9

• showed a film to MILGRAM’s study to students and were asked who was to blame
• the students blamed the experimenter and this supports the proposal of legitimacy of authority

Question 10

EVALUATION

why is the ‘agentic shift’ deterministic?

Answer 10

• it does not explain why some do not obey, and thus assumes that everyone will undergo this process
  (not everyone obeys)
• does not explain why HOFLING’s nurses didn’t show high anxiety levels
  so…
• ‘agentic shift’ can only account for some situations of obedience

Question 11

EVALUATION

what did KELMAN and HAMILTON say? and how does this relate to social-psychological factors?

Answer 11

• applicable to real-life crimes
  (my lai massacre)
• american soldiers were experiencing the ‘agentic state’ when their authority demanded them to