Theories of obedience Flashcards
what is obedience?
complying with rules set by a legitimate authority figure
what is destructive obedience?
it involves following orders which lead to the harming of other people
what is the agentic state?
an individual allows an authority figure to direct their behaviour and assume that the responsibility of these actions passes to that person
what is the autonomous state?
an individual directs their own behaviour and takes responsibility for the results
what does the agency theory suggest?
when we are faced with someone who we perceive to have more authority than us we make the agentic shift and enter the agentic state allowing them to direct our behaviour as we assume they’ll take responsibility for the consequences of our actions
what is the agentic shift?
when confronted with someone higher than us in the social hierarchy and with legitimate authority we change from our normal autonomous state to the agentic state
why does the agentic shift happen according to Milgram?
during childhood society is socialised into developing the capacity for the agentic state. this ideology is reinforced in school to maintain order and to get used to being subordinating our own needs and wishes to those in society
What does Milgram suggest about authority for society?
That it is necessary for a smooth running society as humans live in natural hierarchal groups
- what was the Holfing hospital experiment (1966)
- how does it add credibility to Milgrams agency theory (C.o.d.a)
Holfing aimed to see whether 22 nurses would follow an order given by an authority figure (doctor) when they are given over the phone (breaking regulations) by being asked to administrate 20mg (overdose) to a patient, this drug was not administrated on this ward and packaging said only 10mg allowed. He found 21/22 nurses started to give the medication even though they knew they should not have carried out the orders.
2. nurses were in the agentic state carrying out destructive obedience- possible moral strain also
which study adds credibility to Milgram’s agency theory? (C.o.d.a)
Burger (2009) who tested to see if Milgram’s results were era-bound and even after many years he found the same results
How is agency theory reductionist? (c.O.d.a)
it doesn’t acknowledge/explain individual differences such as biology and personality
what is an opposition point of Milgram’s agency theory in terms of validity? (c.O.d.a)
Milgram’s research severely lacks ecological validity since in real life teachers are not asked to electrocute students nor were wartime Nazi’s asked to do this to Jews. the task is artificial and the unusual nature of the supporting research might count against the theory
In terms of moral strain, what is an opposition point of agency theory?
Moral strain was showed by participants who obeyed not the ones who disobeyed and Milgram’s theory suggests the agentic state is an escape from moral strain, but this isn’t what’s observed in his studies
what is a different theory to explain obedience? (c.o.D.a)
social impact theory which suggests everyone applies social force to everyone else to get what they want, both theories suggest people find it hard to disobey and do whatever social pressure makes them do however this theory ignores the importance of moral strain
how can agency theory be applied to real life situations? (c.o.d.A)
+ to understand horrific tragedies such as the holocaust, ethnic cleansings in the Balkans and the Rwandan genocide in which these crimes were ordered by authority figures
+ may help reduce prejudice and discrimination because authority figures could tell people to be understanding and tolerant of “outsiders” such as celebrities / sporting heroes visiting schools and promoting equality
what is the social impact theory by Bibb Latane?
suggests people act within social forcefields and influence other individuals much as physical forces can affect an object
in social impact theory what are sources?
the person who is doing the influencing
in social impact theory what are the targets?
the people being influenced
what is the equation of social impact theory?
I=f(SIN)
what does the S stand for in the equation for social impact theory?
strength (how much authority the source has)
what does the I stand for in the equation for social impact theory?
Immediacy, the closeness emotionally or proximity
what does the N stand for in the equation for social impact theory?
number (amount of people, sources and targets)
what is the law of diminishing in the social impact theory?
once the source group is bigger than 3 each additional person has less of an influencing effect
what is diffusion of responsibility in the social impact theory?
the social impact gets spread out between all the people it’s aimed at. The more targets there are the more pressure is shared
what is the psychosocial law (a.k.a the lightbulb effect) in social impact theory?
social influence increases with growing numbers but at a decreasing rate
what is the bystander effect in social impact theory?
where someone may need help and people may walk past because they assume someone else will help and they don’t feel responsible. when there’s a single person in an emergency, the probability they will help goes up
1) what is the smoky room study
2)how does it give credibility to social impact theory? (C.o.d.a)
male undergraduates found themselves in a room either alone, with 2 non-reacting others or in a group of 3. As predicted, pp’s were less likely to report the smoke in a room with others (10%) or a group of 3 (38%) than when alone (75%) .
2) this adds credibility to SIT because seeing others remain passive led them to decide the smoke was not dangerous.
1) what was the Sedikides & Jackson study?
2) how does it add credibility to social impact theory (C.o.d.a)?
A field experiment in the bird house at a zoo where a confederate told groups not to lean on the railing near bird cages. In uniform obedience was at 58% whereas without obedience was 35%. obedience also declined when the group was further from the person making the request (61% in the same room, 7% not).
2) demonstrates immediacy in social force.
how is social impact theory reductionist (c.O.d.a)?
it reduces the complexity of human thoughts feelings and experiences to 3 numbers in order to predict an outcome.
What is a different theory as an explanation of obedience rather than social impact theory (c.o.D.a)?
agency theory emphasises the role of evolution and socialisation
in what ways can social impact theory be applied (c.o.d.A)?
- if you want to get people to obey, you need to direct social force at them in small groups and ideally stop them from getting together in larger groups
- political leaders may increase their influence by adopting strong and persuasive style of communication to connect with voters, aim to reach voters by talking to them face-to-face rather than TV, address smaller groups rather than large crowds where the divisional effect may reduce the message.
what is an opposition point of the formula of social impact theory?
quantifying strength is subjective to the individual sources and targets involved
How are Social Impact Theory and Agency Theory different?
Social Impact Theory explains how social factors (strength, immediacy, and number) influence obedience whereas agency theory explains the psychological process behind obedience, where individuals shift from an autonomous state to an agentic state
