Obedience: Social Psychological factors

The agentic state

When individuals carry out orders as an agent for a figure of authority when they enter a hierarchy in a social set up. These individuals no longer view their decisions as autonomous or take responsibility for their actions

Autonomous state

When someone is behaving independently and acting according to their own principles. The shift from autonomy to agency is called the agentic shift.

Strategies individuals use to reduce moral strain

- Shifting the responsibility to the victim or denying the damage they were doing to the victim.

Legitimacy of authority

A person who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation.

Legitimacy of authority Milgram

The people saw the experimenter as legitimate as they knew he was a scientist and therefore is more likely to be knowledgeable and responsible.

Social psychological factors AO3

😊Research support- Blass and Schmitt showed mailgrams study to students and asked to identify who they thought was responsible for the harm. The students blamed the experimenter rather than the participant. They said the responsibility was due to the legitimate authority and due to the fact that he was the expert authority.

☹️Limited explanation- The agentic state doesn't explain why some participants didn't obey. It also doesn't explain the Hofling study, as the nurses did not show the same level of anxiety as the participants in Milgram's study. They should have don if they were acting due to being in an agentic state.

☹️Cultural differences- Kilham and mann found that only 16% went to the max voltage in australia. Mantell found that 85% went to the top in germany. These results show that in some cultures, authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate. This reflects the different ways that cultures are structured and how children are raised to perceive authority figures.