A01

• Agentic state 


  This is a mental state where you are more likely to obey an order because you see yourself as

  having no personal responsibility for your behaviour as you are acting on behalf of the authority figure (i.e., as their agent). The opposite is being in an autonomous state but this can ‘shift’ into an agentic state when a

  person starts to believe they are no longer responsible for their actions. Instead, they feel responsible to the authority and are mainly concerned that they should ‘do the job right’.
• Legitimacy of Authority

  We are socialised to recognise the legitimate authority of certain people in society, e.g. parents,

  police, doctors, teachers, etc. We are willing to give up independence and to hand control of our behaviour to these figures as they have the power to punish us. Certain factors increase the legitimacy of the

  authority figure. E.g. you are more likely to obey a policeman when they are wearing a uniform than

  when they are plain clothed
• Proximity Variation

  In Milgram’s baseline study,

  the Teacher (T) could hear the

  Learner (L) but not see him.

  When T and L were in same

  room, obedience dropped to

  40%. In the touch proximity

  variation, T had to force L's

  hand onto the electric shock

  plate (30% obedience). In one

  variation, the experimenter

  left the room and gave

  instructions over phone,

  obedience fell to 20.5%.
• Location Variation

  Milgram conducted a variation

  in a run-down office block

  rather than prestigious Yale

  University. In this location,

  obedience fell to 47.5%.

  The prestigious university

  environment gave Milgram’s

  study legitimacy and authority.

  P's were more obedient in this

  location because they believed

  the experimenter shared this

  legitimacy and obedience was

  expected
• Uniform variation

  In the baseline study, the

  Experimenter wore a grey lab coat

  as a symbol of his authority. In

  one variation, the role of the

  experimenter was taken over by

  an ‘ordinary member of the

  public’ (a confederate) in

  everyday clothes rather than a lab

  coat. The obedience rate dropped

  to 20%, the lowest of these

  variations.
• Authoritarian personality 


  Obedience is dispositional (personality) not situational (environment).

  Authoritarian personality types tend to have respect for those in positions of authority (e.g.

  police, leaders) and so are more likely to obey them but are hostile towards those of lower

  social status. This personality type is common in people who

  have had strict family upbringings and harsh discipline as a child leading them to fear punishment from those in authority.
• Authoritarian Personality research 


  Adorno et al (1950) - the F scale was used to measure authoritarian personality type in 2000 middle class white Americans An example of an item on the F-Scale: ‘Obedienceand respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn’. Findings: Those who scored highly showed

  prejudice towards those perceived as ‘weak’ (e.g. minority groups) and respect towards those perceived as ‘strong’ (e.g. leaders, authority

  figures) meaning they were more likely to obey
• Milgram Aim 


  Milgram wanted to find out whether ordinary Americans

  would obey an unjust order from a person in authority
• Milgram Procedure

  1. Participants told study was a test of the role of punishment and learning

  2. Genuine participant had the teacher's role, confederate played the learner

  3. Teacher's role was to administer a shock every time the learner made a mistake

  4. Teacher watched the learner being strapped into a chair

  5. Teacher received a practice shock

  6. Accomplice answered correctly at first, then began to make mistakes

  7. Shocks started at 15 volts and increased in 15 volt increments to 450 volts
• Milgram Findings

  •All participants went to at least 300 volts on the shock

  generator.

  • 65% of participants went up to the maximum 450 volts

  which was marked as XXX.