Social-Psychological Explanations of Obedience (AO1)

Question 1

What are the 2 Social-Psychological Explanations of Obedience?

Answer 1

The Agentic State
Legitimacy of Authority

Question 2

What is the Agentic State?

Answer 2

• obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person doesn’t take responsibility for their actions
• instead they believe that they are acting for someone else as an ‘agent’
• an ‘agent’ is not an unfeeling puppet, they experience moral strain (high anxiety) but feel powerless to disobey

Question 3

What is the Autonomous State?

Answer 3

autonomous = independent/free
- in this state people are free to behave according to their own principles and is responsible for their own actions

Question 4

What is the shift to the Agentic State?

Answer 4

• occurs when a person believes someone else as a figure of authority (higher in social hierarchy)
• in this state, people are acting for someone else as an agent
• binding factors can reduce feelings of moral strain, these are excuses to make the agent feel better, could responsibility to victim or deny damage inflicted

Question 5

What is Legitimacy of Authority?

Answer 5

most societies are structured in a hierarchy - people in certain positions hold authority over us (e.g. parents, teachers, police officers)

Question 6

What is a Legitimate Authority?

Answer 6

• the power that authorities hold is legitimate because it’s agreed by society
• people with legitimate authority have the power to punish others, smth most accept bc it allows society to function smoothly
• we sacrifice some independence to people we trust to use their authority properly

Question 7

What is Destructive Authority?

Answer 7

• history has shown us that some leaders can use legitimate authority destructively (e.g Hitler, Stalin)
• often they can use it for their own personal gain and may order people to behave in cruel and dangerous ways