Legitimacy Of Authority For Obedience AO1

• Legitimacy of authority


  When a person recognises their own and others' position in a social hierarchy, leading to recognition of the authority figure's right to issue a demand
• Legitimacy of authority


  • Increased by visible symbols of authority e.g. uniform
  • Should occur within some kind of institutional setting or system e.g. the military
• Legitimacy of authority


  • Bickman found that people were twice as likely to obey someone in a security guard's uniform as someone not wearing one (jacket + tie) because the uniform gave them legitimacy of authority
• Location


  Affected legitimacy of authority - the scientific laboratory meant that more people obeyed than in run-down office blocks which reduced the legitimacy of authority that the experimenter had
• Milgram found that location affected legitimacy of authority
• For authority to be legitimate it should occur within some kind of institutional setting or system
• Legitimacy is increased by visible symbols of authority e.g. uniform