Situational explanations of obedience

• What are the two situational explanations of obedience?

  The agentic state and legitimacy of authority
• Why does a person feel no personal responsibility in the agentic state?

  Because responsibility is diffused
• what are aspects of a situation that help people ignore the effects of their behaviour called? (agentic state)

  binding factors
• what do binding factors do? (agentic state)

  reduce moral strain/anxiety
• how does a person in the agentic state carry out an order?

  unthinkingly
• describe milgrams variation for the agency theory

  Where another confederate was enlisted to administer the electric shock
• how much did obedience increase to in milgrams variation for the agency theory?

  92.5%
• why did obedience increase in milgrams variation for the agency theory?

  because the personal responsibility can be diffused and shifted onto other people
• What is the supportive evidence for the agency theory?

  Participants asked questions about who is responsible which shows that they wanted less personal responsibility to justify their actions
• who’s research is contradictory evidence for the agency theory?

  rank and Jacobson‘s
• Describe Rank and jacobson’s and why it is contradictory evidence for the agency theory

  They asked 18 nurses over the phone to administer a lethal dose of a known drug.

  16 disobeyed showing that they maintained in the autonomous state despite authority
• How does the agency theory apply to the situational factor of uniform?

  Uniform allows for a clear diffusion of responsibility
• How does the agency theory apply to the situational factor of proximity?

  being closer to the victims and further from authority means it is harder to deny the consequences and diffuse responsibility
• What does a person recognise in the legitimacy of authority?

  Their own and others positions in a social hierarchy
• what does noticing places in a social hierarchy lead you to recognise according to the legitimacy of authority?

  recognition of the authority figure and their right to demand or punish
• how is legitimacy of authority increased?

  by visual symbols or external factors like the environment
• how is the legitimacy of authority related to the situational variable of location?

  Yale is a prestigious university so it is trusted
• how is the legitimacy of authority related to the situational variable of uniform?

  uniform provides a visual symbol of authority
• how does the legitimacy of authority explain cultural differences?

  because countries differ in the level of obedience - 16% of Aussie women went to 450 volts but 85% of German participant did.

  there are different authorities and different ways children are raised to perceive authorities
• why can’t the legitimacy of authority explain all obedience? (who?)

  because Rank and Jacobson found that even their strict hierarchy lead to disobedience so it is probably also influenced by personality traits or innate tendencies