AO1 - Agentic State

• An agentic state is when an individual carries out the orders of an authority figure and acts as their agent, with little personal responsibility.
• In Milgram’s original experiment, the participants were told that the experimenter had full responsibility and therefore they could act as an agent, carrying out the experimenter’s orders.
• When a person changes from autonomous state to an agentic state, they have undergone an agentic shift.
• When we are responsible for our own actions with the freedom to choose how we may behave, we are in an autonomous state.
• If an authority figure is believed to have higher social status, they can have greater power to cause an agentic shift.
• An agent for authority may experience moral strain but might feel powerless to stop.