Social-psychological factors Flashcards
What is the ‘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.
What did Milgram propose about the ‘agentic state’?
That obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person becomes an ‘agent’.
Give an example of someone ‘in the agentic state’
Eichmann was in charge of the Nazi death camps and his defence was that he was only obeying orders.
What is meant by ‘binding factors’?
Aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour. The binding factors reduces the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling.
What does ‘autonomy’ mean?
It is the opposite of the agentic state - A person in an autonomous state behaves according to their own principles and feels responsible for their own actions.
What is meant by the term ‘agentic shift’?
The shift from autonomy (the opposite of the agentic state) to being an ‘agent’.
When did Milgram suggest the agentic shift occured?
When a person percieves someone as an authority figure. This person has more power because of their position in a social heirarchy.
Give 1 strength and 1 weakness of the agentic state
Strength - Research support. Milgram’s study supports the Agentic state. Most of the participants resisted giving the shocks at some point, but when they asked the experimenter questions such as “Who is responsible if the learner is harmed?” and when the reply “I am” was given by the experimenter, the participant continued. The participant was no longer responsible for their actions
Limitation - The agentic shift doesn’t explain many of the research findings. Some participants in Milgram’s study did not obey. Also, in Hofling’s nurse study, the nurses should have shown anxiety when they were spoken to by the doctor, but they didn’t. This shows that the agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience
What is meant by the term ‘legitimacy of authority’?
An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we percieve to have authority over us.
Give examples of people in our society that have authority over us
Teachers, police officers, parents etc.
Why is the authority legitimate?
Because it is agreed by society. Most of us accept that these people exercise social power in order for society to function smoothly.
When do we learn the legitimacy of authority?
In our childhood, from parents and teachers.
What does ‘destructive authority’ mean?
When people are ordered to behave in callous, cruel, dangerous or stupid ways.
Give 2 examples of destructive authority
Hitler and Stalin are good examples of powerful leaders who used their legitimate authority for destructive purposes.
A destructive authority was present in Milgram’s study when the experimenter used “prods” in order for the Teacher to behave against their conscience.
Give a brief overview of the ‘Massacre at My Lai’
During the Vietnam war, 1968, as many as 504 unarmed civilians were killed and raped by American soldiers. The village was burned down, and all the animals were killed.
Who was the commanding officer during the Massacre at My Lai?
Lt William Calley
Explain the behaviour of the soldiers at the massacre in terms of the agentic state
The soldiers took their orders from their commanding officer, Lt Calley. He took his orders from higher-ranking officers in other locations. All could deny personal responsibility for their behaviour because they perceived themselves to be acting as agents of a higher authority. They were not following the dictates of their own consciences, so were not in an autonomous state where they could behave freely and independently. This agentic shift occurred when the soldiers joined the army.
Explain the behaviour of the soldiers at the massacre in terms of the legitimacy of authority
The army is a good example of an extremely structured hierarchy, in which power increases with rank. The officer who ranks above you has the power to punish your failure to obey. Their authority is made legitimate by the law, the government and the army itself. The soldiers at My Lai accepted that Lt Calley was entitled to expect their obedience because of his position in the army’s hierarchy and his power to punish them. Lt Calley’s attitude to his commanding officer would have been identical, and so on up the chain of command. The outcome was obedience to destructive authority at every level.
What is meant by the term ‘disposition’?
A person’s inherent qualities of mind and character. For example, being introverted, or tidy, or sarcastic.
Who wanted to understand why the Nazis behaved as they did during the Holocaust?
Adorno et al. (1950)
What did Adorno et al. believe?
They believed that high levels of obedience were a psychological disorder and lay in the personality of the individual (and not the situation).
Give the definition of ‘authoritarian personality’
A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority.
What psychological approach is Adorno’s explanation based on?
The psychodynamic approach - he saw the origins of the authoritarian personality in childhood, due to harsh parenting.
Give examples of harsh parenting
- Strict discipline and severe criticism of failings.
- Expectations of loyalty.
- Extremely high standards.
- Conditional love.
Adorno devised what to measure the authoritarian personality?
The ‘F-scale’
What did Adorno do with the F-scale and why?
He studied more than 2000 middle-class white Americans. He wanted to find out about their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups.
What were Adorno’s findings?
Adorno found that those who scored highly on the scale had characteristics of the authoritarian personality.
What are some typicalities that Adorno found was present in the authoritarian personality?
- Highly conventional attitudes towards sex, race and gender.
- Very conscious of their status.
- Extreme respect and submissiveness to authority.
- Want strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values.