2a. Agentic state and Legitimacy of Authority

What type of explanations of obedience are agentic state and legitimacy of authority are?

Agentic state and legitimacy of authority are situational explanations for obedience

What is an agentic state?

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, i.e. as their agent. This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure. An agent experiences high anxiety (‘moral strain’) when they realise that what they are doing is wrong, but feel powerless to disobey

What is an autonomous state?

Autonomous state= when a person feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions

What is an agentic shift?

Agentic shift= the shift from autonomy to ‘agency.’ Milgram(1974) suggested that this occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure- who has greater power as they have a higher position in a social hierarchy

What are binding factors?

Binding factors= aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the ‘moral strain’ they are feeling.

Milgram observed that many of his ppts said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless to do so- Milgram proposed that individuals may shift the responsibility to the victim or deny the damage they were doing to the victims

What is legitimacy of authority?

Legitimacy of authority=  An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified (legitimate) by the individual’s position of power within a social hierarchy

What is one consequence of this legitimacy of authority?

One consequence of this legitimacy of authority= is that some people are granted the power to punish others- we are willing to give up some of our independence and to hand control of our behaviour over to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately.

What is destructive authority?

Destructive authority= History has often shown that leaders (such as Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot) can use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes, ordering people to behave in ways that are cruel and dangerous. 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.