agentic state and legitimacy of authority

what is the agentic state?

a person does not see themselves as responsible for their actions, but attributes responsibility to someone else, particularly an authority figure

how does someone shift to the agentic state?

under certain circumstances, a person may shift from an autonomous state, where they feel responsible for their own actions, to an agentic state - agentic shift

why do we undergo agentic shift?

one explanation is the need to preserve a positive self-image, by shifting responsibility onto the authority figures the person does not feel guilty about their actions

why are people kept in agentic state?

individuals are kept in agentic state by ‘binding factors’ eg. the fear of appearing rude by refusing to obey the authority figure’s commands

what is moral strain?

when an authority figure issues an order that goes against our conscience

this is because we have two contradictory urges: to obey the authority figure(and society's expectations) and to obey our consciences (and keep our own self-image as "a good person").

what are the stages of moral strain?

1. **Denial:** some of the participants in Milgram's study minimised the pain they were causing to the Learner, convincing themselves that the shocks weren't dangerous (even though "DANGER" was written on the shock generator); Milgram argues that many people in Nazi Germany did this, refusing to believe what was going on in the death camps
2. **Avoidance:** many participants tried not to look at the Experimenter or even look up from the shock generator
3. **Degree of Involvement:** some participants only flicked the switches on the shock generator lightly, as if this would somehow lessen the pain
4. **Helping the Learner:** other participants tried to help the Learner by stressing the correct answer on the memory test; in Variation #7, some participants deliberately gave a weaker shock rather than the stronger shock because they thought no one was watching

where does the power of a legitimate authority figure stem from?

their perceived position in a social situation rather than any personal characteristics

how does legitimate authority interact with Milgram’s experiment?

ppts had the expectation that someone would ‘be in charge’, and the experimenter fulfilled this by having an ‘air of authority’

do people accept definitions of a situation that are provided by a legitimate authority figure?

yes, in Milgram’s experiment, ppts unquestioningly accepted the experimenter’s reassurances about the learner

what must happen for and authority to be perceived as legitimate?

they must represent a respected institution - eg. in a scientific lab of a prestigious university

ao3 - contradictory research

* Lifton (1986) - study of German doctors at Auschwitz.
* Found doctors had changed gradually and irreversibly from ordinary professionals into men and women capable of carrying out vile and lethal experiments on prisoners.
* Milgram's claim people shift back and forth between autonomous state and agentic state fails to explain this.

ao3 - supporting research

* Tarnow (2000) - support for power of legitimate authority through study of aviation accidents.
* Studied data from US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) review of serious accidents in US between 1978-1990.
* As with Milgram's study - Tarnow found excessive dependence on captain's authority and expertise, with sometimes tragic consequences.

ao3 - conflict in regards to moral strain

in Milgram’s observational studies, moral strain was shown by the participants who *obeyed* (weeping, groaning, shaking, fainting), not by the ones who *disobeyed*.

Milgram’s theory suggests that the Agentic State is an escape from moral strain, but this is not what is observed in his studies.

ao3 - lacks ecological validity

in real life teachers are not asked to electrocute students, nor were wartime Germans asked to do this by the Nazis. The artificial and unusual nature of the supporting research might count against the theory. \n \n Meeus & Raaijmakers (1986) replicated Milgram with insults instead of shocks; this is much more realistic but this study still put participants in an unusual position (making them pretend to interview people for a job and deliver insults that appeared on an overhead TV screen).