Social Influence - The Agentic State & Legitmacy Of Authority Flashcards
What is the agentic state?
The way in which an individual may obey an order that may be seen as morally wrong by handing over responsibility for the outcome of their actions to the authority figure therefore not feeling responsible
When people are in the agentic state, do they feel anything?
Yes, they experience moral strain & high anxiety as they know their actions are wrong but feel powerless to disobey
What is the autonomous state?
The opposite of being in the agentic state, when someone feels in control & is free to behave in a way which accords to their own morals, feeling responsibility for their actions
What is the agentic shift & when does it occur
When someone shifts from autonomy to agency when someone else is perceived to be the authority figure who has a greater position in the social hierarchy
What are binding factors?
Aspects of the situation that allow people to ignore/minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour therefore reducing the moral strain they feel
What is a strength of the agentic state explanation?
Research support -> Blass & Schmitt showed a clip of Milgram’s experiment to students and asked the to identify who was responsible for harm to the learner & they blamed the experimenter rather than the teacher due to the legitimacy of authority
What are some limitations of the agentic state explanation?
A limited explanation -> doesn’t explain why some of the participants didn’t obey (due to this explanation they should’ve all obeyed) & doesnt explain the findings of Hofling et al’s experiment (the nurses understood they had a role) so it only explains some situations of obedience
The behaviour of the Nazis cannot be explained this way -> Mandel described 1 incident where men obeyed the orders to shoot civilians in Poland without direct orders to do so
What is legitimacy of authority?
Authority figures that have authority over which is accepted in society e.g. parents, teachers, the police
What are the consequences of legitimacy of authority?
People e.g. judges have the power to punish others so we are willing to give up some of our independence and hand control to them expecting they will exercise their authority appropriately
What is destructive authority?
When power is used for destructive purposes and when obedience is used to harm others e.g. Hitler and his influence on the Germans
What are the strengths about the legitimacy of authority explanation?
Cultural differences: shows that authority is seen as more legitimate in other cultures and is entitled to demand obedience from individuals
Kilham & Mann -> 16% of Australians went up to maximum voltage
Mantell -> 85% of Germans went up to maximum voltage
Real life crimes -> can help explain how obedience can lead to real life war crimes
