Agentic state

• Situational explanation of obedience are external factors on a persons environment that can increase the likelihood of obeying to authority.
• Agentic state is when a individual acts like an agent and takes no responsibility for their actions as they believe they’re acting on behalf of someone else
• Autonomous state is when a person feels a sense of responsibility for their actions and behave according to their own principles autonomy = independent.
• Binding factors – keep someone in an agentic state even when they want to disobey these factors reduce anxiety such as reassuring ourselves that it’s not our responsibility such as shifting the responsibility to the victim or denying the damage they caused.
• One strength is that Milgram’s own study Support the role of The agentic state in Obedience. When the participants were showing signs of Resistance, the verbal prods quickly Resulted in participants going back into the Agentic state. When they were resisting, they Would have been in autonomous state. For example, one participant was recorded Asking the experimenter who was responsible If Mr Wallace was harmed.
• When the Experimenter explained that he was Responsible (not the participant) Themselves, they continued with the study And slipped back into the agentic state. These findings support The theory and indicates Its validity.
• Further research to Support the agentic State explanation Can be taken from Hofling et al (1966). They created a situation whereby 22 nurses Were phoned by a fake doctor and told to Administer 20mg of the drug ‘Astrogen’ to a Patient. Astrogen was a made-up drug with a Label clearly stating that the maximum daily Dose was 10mg. By obeying the doctors, the nurses Would be breaking 3 important rules of Nursing. It was found that 20 out of the 22 nurses obeyed the doctors.
• This supports the Explanation because it can Be assumed that they Broke these rules as they Were acting as an agent For the doctor whilst Obeying their orders.