Studied by 0 people
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 - such as their agent
This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure
Agentic state - autonomous state
The opposite of being in an agentic state
‘Autonomy’ - to be independent and free
Someone in an autonomous state is free to behave according to their morals and is responsible for their actions
Shift from ‘autonomy’ to ‘agency’ is agentic shift
Milgram (1974) suggested this shift occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure with a higher social status
In most social groups, when one person is in charge others defer to the legitimate authority of this person and undergo an agentic shift
Agentic state - binding factors
Milgram observed that many of his participants said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless to do so
Led to the question of why did they remain in an agentic state
Answer is binding factors - aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling
Some of Milgram’s participants said that the learners were ‘foolish to volunteer’ to deny the damage they were doing to the victims
Legitimacy of authority
An explanation for obedience which suggests we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us
This authority is legitimate due to the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy
Most of us accept that authority figures are allowed to exercise social power over others due to this allowing society to function smoothly
Legitimacy of authority - consequences and acceptance
Some people are granted the power to punish others
Police and courts have the power to punish wrongdoers
Meaning we are willing to give up some of our independence and to hand control of our behaviour to people we trust to exercise authority appropriately
We learn acceptance of legitimate authority from childhood
Legitimacy of authority - destructive authority
Problems arise when legitimate authority becomes destructive
I.e in history when powerful leaders (such as Hitler and Stalin) use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes
Destructive authority was obvious in Milgram’s study, when the Experimenter used prods to order participants to behave in ways that went against their consciences
