French & Raven 1959

• • French and Raven (1959) identified five types of power that a person may perceive others to have that could induce compliance. These are: legitimate power, coercive power, referent power, reward power and expert power.
• Reward power is the perception that the agent has the ability to give an incentive of some form.
• Coercive power involves perceiving the agent to have the ability to administer punishment.
• Expert power is the target’s belief that the agent has superior knowledge, ability and expertise in what they do.
• Legitimate power involves the authority figure having a formal position which demands obedience from a person
• Referent power is the result of a person's perceived attractiveness, worthiness and right to others' respect, as the person may be likeable
• WEAKNESS

   Social Power theory is not a complete explanation of obedience because Milgram’s Agency theory (1973) suggests we are obedient when in an agentic state and not because of a type of social power.
• WEAKNESS

  French and Raven’s (1959) claim that obedience is a direct result of the type of power the authority figure is perceived to possess, ignoring individual differences of personality. Individuals with an internal locus of control may be more likely to dissent as they take more personal responsibility for their actions regardless of perceived power.
• STRENGTH

  application to holocaust - soldiers may have perceived their officers to have legitimate power, as the officers had authority, therefore ensuring obedience from the soldiers to carry out their orders 
• STRENGTH

  Application to our world - shows how we obey in society in terms of the legitimate power that a police officer has over people in getting them to obey.
• STRENGTH

  Application to military- when training military personnel in whistle blowing policies, if they believe that their superior is in a position of legitimate power, potentially reducing atrocities committed by soldiers carrying out the orders of officers in appointed positions of authority without question