Explanations for obedience

• what is the agency theory?

  a theory that suggests people in society fit between two states - autonomous and agentic.
• what does autonomous mean?

  self-governing and independent, taking responsibility for their own actions.
• what does agentic mean?

  acting on the authority of those higher, deeming them responsible for your actions.
• Why is the agentic state common?

  from early stage childhood we are taught obedience to authority is necessary.
• give two examples of people in the agentic state.

  adolph eichman and lt william calley.
• what did adolf eichman do?

  he masterminded the extermination of the jews yet under questioning claimed to be an anti semite, disagreeing with nazi views. he portrayed himself as an obedient servant and denied responsibility for his actions claiming he was only following orders.
• what did lt william calley do?

  executed 500 innocent woman, children and elderly in my lai yet claimed to just be following orders when trialed.
• what are the three explanations for obedience?

  the agency theory, legitimacy of authority, disposition.
• what is legitimacy of authority?


  An explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. This authority is justified by the individual's position of power within a social hierarchy.
• what variables affect obedience?

  proximity, location, uniform.
• How does proximity affect obedience?

  when authority is remote, obedience is less effective. obedience is reduced when the consequences of the obedience is visible.
• what evidence supports the idea of proximity effecting obedience rates?

  a variation of milgrams study showed when the experimenter was giving instructions over the phone obedience rates dropped to 21%during a version of milgrams study, when the teacher could see and hear the learner being shocked rates dropped to 40% furthermore when the teacher had to physically touch the learner to the shocker, rates dropped to 30%
• what evidence supports the idea of location effecting obedience rates?

  when milgrams study was re performed in a run down office block, rates dropped to 47.5%
• how does location affect obedience?

  obedience is increased when the experiment is performed in an established institutional setting.
• How does uniform affect obedience?

  obedience is increased when the authority figure is dressed wearing a recognisably established uniform.
• what evidence supports the idea of uniform effecting obedience rates?

  - a variation of milgrams study showed that when the experimenters lab coat was replaced with ordinary clothes, obedience rates dropped to 20%. - bickman also researched uniform in 1974, testing obedience rates of the general public when asked to pick up litter by different social status' stereotypical uniforms. Obedience was highest for a security guard (38%), and lowest for a milkman (14%).
• what is disposition?


  a person's inherent qualities of mind and character. as an explanation for obedience it is the certain personality traits that make you more obedient.
• what evidence is there to support dispositional variables as an explanation for obedience?

  the authoritarian personality. adorno et al 1950 created the Fscale to measure the personality traits which incline obedience. he found people who scored high had similar parents. 20 obedient and 20 disobedient participants from milgrams study completed the Fscale and it was found that the obedient people showed more signs of an authoritarian personality.