Social Influence : The Agentic State Flashcards
What’s the Agentic state?
When you trust authority, give up your responsibility and stop acting on your conscious (feel no responsibility for their actions)
What’s the autonomous state?
Behaving voluntarily and being aware of what will happen as a result of your actions (feel responsibility for their actions)
What happens when someone acts as an agent for authority?
It’s easier to deny personal responsibility for your actions and carry out actions that go against personal morals
What’s the Agentic shift?
Moving from the autonomous state to Agentic state alongside a moral strain
What’re the ‘defence mechanisms’ moral stain can be reduced by?
Denial, avoidance, degree of involvement, helping the victim
Defence mechanism : Denial
Forcing yourself to believe that what you are doing isn’t real/ has no real consequences
- in Milgram’s study, P’s told themselves the shocks weren’t dangerous
Defence mechanism : Avoidance
Avoiding contact with others or talking about what they’re doing
- in Milgram’s study, Ps didn’t look at experimenter
Defence mechanism : Degree of Involvement
Trying to carry out orders as quickly/ with little engagement as possible
- in Milgram’s study, Ps switched shock generator lightly as if it would lessen the pain)
Defence mechanism : Helping the victim
‘Helping’ those being affected by the orders to make themselves seem better
- in Milgram’s study, teachers stressed correct answers or gave them lowest shock level)
Whats moral strain?
stress the individual is put under to carry out given orders they know are morally wrong
- physical and mental distress
Whats the appeal of the Agentic state?
It reduced the effects of moral strain as the individual regards the authority figure as being responsible for their actions
Whats legitimate authority?
The power an authority figure has over others (more likely to follow someone who’s higher in the social hierarchy)
Destructive authority
When legitimate authority becomes destructive and uses their power in cruel + unjustifiable wats (e.g. Hitler)
Binding factors
The reason people stay in agencies state - aspects of the situation that allow an individual to ignore/ minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce moral strain
Social hierarchy
Social organisation in which some individuals have a higher social status than others due to race, religion, social class, wealth, career, age, etc.
