Obedience: Situational explanations Legitimacy of authority

• Legitimacy of authority

  Explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us. Most societies are structured in a hierarchical way meaning certain  people have more power over us. The authority they wield is legitimate  in a sense that is agreed on by society. We accept this as it allows society to flow smoothly. 
• Destructive authority

  Many historical figures can use their legitimate authority in destructive ways to order people to behave in cruel and dangerous manners. Destructive authority was obvious in Milgram's study as the experimenter used prods to order pps to act in certain ways that went against their consciences 
• Explains cultural differences

  Strength is a useful account of cultural differences in obedience. Many studies show cultural differences in the rate of obediences in people. Similar study to Milgram's Kilham and Mann 1974 only 16% of Australian women went to 450v, but in Germany it was 85% (Mantell). This shows that in some cultures authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand from individuals, reflecting the ways different societies are structured and how children are raised to perceive authority figures. 
• Cannot explain al (dis)obedience

  Limitation cannot explain all instances in disobedience in a hierarchy where legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted. It includes nurses from Rank and Jacobson’s study as most of them disobedient despite working in rigidly hierarchical authority structures. Significant majority disobeyed despite recognising experimenters authority. This suggests that some people are more/ less obedient than others. It is possible that innate tendencies to dis/obey have a greater influence on behaviour than the legitimacy of an authority figure.