AO3

• Evaluation of Agentic Shift and Legitimacy of Authority:

  • P: A strength of both social-psychological explanations for obedience is their real-world application. 
  • E: For example, in the My Lai Massacre 504 unarmed civilians such as children, women and the elderly were killed by American soldiers. Women were gang-raped and all of the animals were killed, as well as all houses in the village being shot down. Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty but his response simply consisted of the fact that he was following orders - (from the hierarchy).
• Evaluation of Agentic Shift and Legitimacy of Authority: (2)

  • E: This suggests that the agentic state is being shown - a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour as we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure - in this case the American soldiers were being ordered by William Calley, and William Calley was being ordered by the hierarchy. Legitimacy of authority is seen where certain positions hold authority over us, e.g. lieutenant William Calley and the hierarchy. -
• Evaluation of Agentic Shift and Legitimacy of Authority: (3)

  • E: - They accepted that authority figures have to be allowed to exercise social power over others to keep society functioning smoothly.
  • L: Using social-psychological factors to explain examples of obedience to destructive authority in the real-world adds validity to the explanations.
• Legitimacy of Authority research evidence:

  • P: Further support for Legitimacy of Authority comes from research evidence.
  • E: For example, Tarnow studied serious aircraft incidents in the US between 1978 and 1990 where the black box was available (flight voice recorder) and where flight crew actions were a contributing factor in the crash. Tarnow found excessive dependence on the captain’s authority and expertise - one second officer claiming that he noticed the captain taking a risky approach. The NTSB report found such ‘lack of monitoring’ errors in 19 out of the 37 accidents investigated.
• Legitimacy of Authority research evidence: (2)

  • E: This suggests that from their findings, legitimacy of authority is represented because the staff crew didn’t make the decision to speak up and stop the pilot from taking the risk, as the pilot was a person of authority they didn’t feel confident enough to go against his ways. When someone is seen as a legitimate authority, they will follow their actions.
  • L: Tarnow’s research adds validity to Legitimacy of Authority as an explanation for obedience - the need to teach people in positions of care about the dangers of blindly trusting authority.