obedience

• Agentic state


  When an individual carries out the orders of an authority figure and acts as their 'agent', with little personal responsibility and reduced moral strain for their actions
• Autonomous state


  When a person is acting independently
• Shifting from autonomy to 'agency'


  Referred to as the 'agentic shift'
• In Milgram's original experiment, 65% of participants administered the full 450 volts and were arguably in an agentic state
• In a variation of Milgram's experiment with an additional confederate administering the electric shocks, the percentage of participants who administered the full 450 volts rose dramatically, from 65% to 92.5%
• Legitimacy of authority


  Participants were recognising the legitimate authority of the researcher
• In Milgram's original research at Yale University, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts was 65%
• When the experiment was replicated in a rundown building in Bridgeport, Connecticut, obedience levels dropped to 47.5%
• Proximity


  How close you are to someone or something
• In Milgram's experiment, proximity worked on numerous levels: how close the teacher was to the learner, and how close the teacher was to the experimenter
• Location


  Where the experiment takes place
• Uniform


  What the authority figure is wearing
• Agentic state


  When someone sees themselves as an agent of the authority figure, carrying out their orders, rather than taking personal responsibility
• In Milgram's original study, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts was 65%
• Location and legitimate authority

  When the experiment took place in a rundown building, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts dropped to 47.5%
• Proximity (learner)

  When the teacher and learner were in the same room, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts dropped to 40%
• Proximity (authority figure)

  When the experimenter gave instructions over the phone, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts dropped to 20.5%
• Uniform and legitimate authority

  When the experimenter was replaced by another 'participant' in ordinary clothes, the percentage of participants administering the full 450 volts dropped to 20%
• Research supports the role of the agentic state in explaining Milgram's high obedience rates
• There are differences in the degree to which authority figures are seen and accepted as legitimate in some cultures
• Research supports the role of the situational variable of uniform affecting obedience rates
• Milgram's methodological approach to systematically changing one variable at a time can be praised for having high reliability
• Milgram's research acknowledges the role of environmental forces in the form of situational factors which determine human behaviour such as obedience to unjust orders
• Explanations of obedience adopt a nomothetic approach, as they attempt to provide general principles relating to human behaviour
• Milgram only used male participants in his original sample, showing a beta bias
• The fact that Milgram only used male participants can be criticised as being androcentric, since the results cannot be generalised to females
• Authoritarian personality


  Characterized by high levels of obedience and an authoritarian personality
• Obedient participants in Milgram's study

  Scored higher on the F-scale compared to disobedient participants
• Obedient participants in Milgram's study

  Were less close to their fathers during childhood and admired the experimenter
• Obedient participants in Milgram's original research displayed more characteristics of the authoritarian personality
• Authoritarian personality


  Individual differences that contribute to its development
• Less-educated people

  More likely to display authoritarian personality characteristics
• It is not authoritarian personality characteristics alone that lead to obedience, but levels of education
• The F-scale may suffer from response bias or social desirability, where participants provide answers that are socially acceptable
• The F-scale may represent a political bias, as it only measures extreme right-wing ideologies and ignores authoritarianism in left-wing politics
• Adorno et al. came to believe that a high degree of authoritarianism was similar to suffering from a psychological disorder
• Dispositional explanation


  Uses a nomothetic approach to establish general laws of behaviour relating to authoritarian characteristics
• Obedient behaviour is determined by our socialisation experiences and not a result of free will
• Authoritarian personality


  • An inflexible viewpoint
  • Intolerance of others who are weak
  • Contemptuousness towards people of lower social status
• Authoritarian personality

  In relation to obedience