social-psych explanations of obedience

• Social-psychological explanations are based on social constructs e.g. social norms and hierarchies
• An agentic state is a mental state where we feel no responsibility for our behaviour and we act as an agent for an authority figure
• An autonomous state is where people take responsibility for their actions and the consequences.
• An agentic shift occurs when a person perceives someone else as a figure of authority (they are high in the social hierarchy)
• Gradual commitment - Agreeing to low level behaviours first, before progressing onto ‘the next small step up’ is less difficult psychologically

  Having committed to giving shocks in the first place it becomes more difficult for participants to subsequently change their mind
• Legitimacy of  authority is the amount of social power held by the authority figure

  We may obey people with legitimate authority because we trust them or because they have the power to punish us.
• strength -

  A filming of Milgram's study was shown to students and they were asked who they thought was responsible for the harm to the learner. Most of the students placed blame on the experimenter.

  The experimenter was recognised as a legitimate authority figure that should be obeyed, supporting this explanation of obedience
• strength -

  These explanations can explain obedience in real-life war crimes, e.g. the holocaust, as they can be understood through power hierarchy & shifting responsibility

  This means that we can apply the explanations to real world scenarios which can help us to understand key events and prevent recurrences.
• weakness -

  German Reserve Police Battalion were ordered to shoot civilians in a town, despite receiving direct orders and being told they could be assigned to other duties instead, They did not follow the orders.

  Not all behaviour can be explained in terms of legitimate authority or agentic states, limiting these as explanations