5. Situational Explanations for Obedience

What are the 2 situational explanations for obedience?

Agentic state and Legitimacy of authority

What is the agentic state?

A mental state where a person sees themselves as acting on behalf of an authority figure.

Obedience to ”destructive authority” occurs because a person becomes an “agent” acting for or in place of someone else

What happens to responsibility in the agentic state?

Person feels no personal responsibility for their actions

What is the autonomous state?

When a person acts independently and takes full responsibility for their actions.

What is the agentic shift?

The move from the autonomous state to the agentic state.

How does the agentic state explain obedience in Milgram’s study?

Participants believed they were not responsible for harming the learner.

What is legitimacy of authority?

The belief that an authority figure has the right to give orders.

Why are people socialised to accept authority?

Society teaches respect for authority (e.g. parents, teachers, police).

How did legitimacy of authority affect obedience in Milgram’s study?

Yale University increased the perceived legitimacy of the experimenter.

Strengths for Legitimacy of Authority

Cultural differences

Ev: Research replicated Milgrams study in Australia and found that only 16% of pp went to the top of the voltage scale. Another research found that 85% of German pp delivered the maximum shock. Ex: Suggest obedience varies across cultures, as in some cultures is seen as more legitimate than in others. Where it strongly valued, people are more likely to accept orders, no questions asked. L: High external validity, helps explain across different cultures.

Strength of Agentic State

Supported by evidence

Ev: In Milgrams study, pp often asked who is responsible if the learner was harmed, when experimenter replied “l am responsible”, pp were more likely to continue delivering shock. Ex: Shows that when individuals believe responsibility lies with an authority figure, they are more likely to obey. Supports idea of agentic state, where they no longer feel personal responsibility for their actions. L: Strengthens the explanation, by demonstrating how shifting responsibility increases obedience.

Weaknesses of Agentic State

Too simplistic

Ev: Research found that only 2/18 nurses obeyed a doctors order to administer an excessive dose of drug to a patient. Doctor was an obvious authority figure, but most of nurses remained autonomous. Ex: If people automatically enter an agentic state when given orders by authority, then more nurses should have obeyed. However, they remained autonomous, possibly due to the awareness of responsibility. L: Suggests that it doesn’t fully explain obedience, reducing the explanatory power.