Obedience - Situational Explanations

What is an agentic state?

When an individual does not feel responsibility for our behaviour as we are acting on behalf of an authority figure when given orders.

What is an autonomous state?

When an individual acts independently and relies on their own free will and feels responsibility.

What is an agentic shift?

Moving from an autonomous state into an agentic state when given orders by someone with perceived authority.

What is legitimacy of authority?

People are more likely to obey someone with perceived authority as it is agreed by society that certain people hold authority.

Strengths

+ Research support for agentic state - Milgram's participants continued when experimenter told them he was responsible for the harm caused

+ Legitimacy of authority explains cultural differences

Limitations

- Does not explain disobedience when legitimacy of authority is clear - Rank & Jacobson's Nurse study