The Agentic State and Legitimate Authority Flashcards
What is the agentic state
A state in which an individual sees themselves as carrying out the orders of another individual, and so removes personal responsibility
What is an agentic shift
Where a person moves from an autonomous state to an agentic state
What did participants in Milgram’s study say highlighting the agentic state
Participants in Milgrams interviews said in interviews that they would not have done it by themselves, and instead they were just doing what they were told
Why might people enter an agentic state
In order to maintain a positive self-image, as when in an autonomous state individuals have to assess what effect their actions have on their state or image, but in an agentic state all actions can be justified by ‘carrying out orders’
Why may people remain in an agentic state when being given destructive orders
People fear defying social norms and appearing rude, annoying or dishonest, and this fear keeps people in an agentic state when given orders they don’t agree with
What is the most important factor in an agentic shift
The presence of a legitimate authority figure
How did Milgram believe a legitimate authority figure was created
He believe there’s a shared human expectation that a social situation has a socially controlling figure, and so the authroity figure doesn’t rely on personal characteristics but the situation presented
Who was the legitimate authority figure in Milgram’s experiment
The experimenter confederate, who appeared to be in control of the experiment
How can a legitimate authority figure define the situation for the agentic individual
The individual sees the authority figure as having a greater understanding of the situation and is thus more reliable
What does a legitimate authority have to have in order to issue harmful or destructive orders
They must have some link to an institution in order to appear legitimate, such as the military
Are prestigious organisations required for legitimate authority
No, Milgram found high obedience when moving his experiment to an office building rather than a uni. Could be that any scientific laboratory is as legitimate as another
Who provided evidence for the power of legitimate authority using airplane accidents
Tarnow
How do airplane accidents support the power of legitimate authority
Tarnow reviewed records of serious accidents between 1978 and 1990 where the black box was available and where flight crew actions were a contributing factor. Tarnow found excessive reliance on the capitain as an authority figure. The US Nationial Transportation Safety Board found ‘lack of monitoring’ errors in 19 - 37 accidents investigated, showing the power of legit authority to enforce obedience to those around them
When may an agentic shift be more likely
Fennis and Aarts claim that in situations where an individual experiences a reduction in their sense of personal control agentic shifts are more likely. Under these circumstances people show increased acceptance of external sources of control. They demonstrated that this resulted in more obedience, ‘bystander apathy’ and compliance with behavioural requests. They concluded that obedience to authority extends to other forms of social influence
Who concluded that legitimate authority extended to other forms of social influence
Fennis and Aarts
What did Milgram concede was an alternative explination to the agentic state
Some people may have a fundamental wish to inflict harm on others. Participants in the Stanford Prison Experiment used the situation to express their sadistic tendencies. Some argue that Zimbrado taking the role of prison superintendent as well as other demand characteristics influenced their behavior, but it could be that people are just bad
How does the Stanford Prison Experiment feed into the agentic state and legitimate authority
It could be that agentic state isn’t a thing and that people have a fundamental wish to inflict harm on others
Why does the agentic state fail to explain Nazi doctors
Liften found a very gradual and irreversible transition in his study of German doctors working at Auschwitz, with the doctors changing from medical proffessionals into people capable of carrying out vile experiments on helpless prisoners. Staub suggests that rather than the agentic shift being to blame for this gradual change, the experience of carrying out evil acts over a long time changes the way people think and behave
Who did a study on Auschwitz doctors
Lifton
Who said that carrying out evil acts changes thought and behaviour
Staub
