explanations for obedience

• Explanations for obedience

  • Agentic state
  • Legitimacy of authority
• Agentic state


  The agentic state is a mental state in which the individual sees themselves as acting as the agent (acting on behalf of) of an authority figure.

  In the agentic state, the individual doesn't feel guilt or responsibility for their behaviour, as they believe responsibility for their actions lies with the authority figure.

  Milgram (1974) proposed the idea of the agency theory - argues we are socialised from an early age to learn that obedience to rules is necessary.
• Autonomous state


  Occurs when individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions. It is the opposite of the agentic state.
• Agentic shift


  The movement from an autonomous state to an agentic state happens in the presence of an authority figure.
• Legitimacy of authority


  Through socialisation, people learn their position with social hierarchy. Individuals understand their position relative to those people who are above and below them.

  Most people generally accept the legitimacy of authority is needed for society to function properly, such as recognising the right of police or judges to give orders.

  Legitimacy of authority is communicated through visible symbols such as uniforms or settings.

  We may obey people with legitimate authority because we trust them. Alternatively, we may obey them because they have the power to punish us.
• Agentic state example

  Some examples include soldiers following orders to commit atrocities during war, individuals participating in cults and blindly following the leader, and individuals obeying the commands of an abusive partner or authority figure.
• Legitimacy of authority examples

  People learn to recognise the authority of individuals such as parents, teachers and police officers through early socialisation.
• Binding factors

  Milgram proposed that a person may stay in their agentic state due to binding factors, which are aspects of a situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the effect of their behaviour, reducing the moral strain.
• + Supporting evidence for agentic state


  E - Blass and Schmidt got participants to watch a film of Milgram's study and asked them to identify who was responsible for harming the learner. Students blamed Milgram due to his legitimate authority as he was on top of the hierarchy.

  E - Shows how in obedience situations people see the authority figure as morally responsible for the harm caused.

  L - Therefore, this supports Milgram's agentic state theory since they blamed the authority figure not the participant.
• + Supporting evidence for legitimacy of authority


  E - Hofling et all found 21 of 22 nurses obeyed orders to give an overdose of an unknown drug by a fake doctor giving instructions over the phone.

  E - This suggests that due to the person being of authority (doctor) that someone is more likely to obey.

  L - Therefore, this supports the explanation of legitimacy of authority.
• / Cultural differences for legitimacy of authority


  E - Some countries differ in the degree to which people are traditionally obedient to authority (Australia - 16%, Germany - 80%).

  E - This could be due to differences in socialisation when growing up and suggests that each culture is different when responding to authority.

  L - Therefore, this suggests the explanation is not generalisable to different cultures and therefore not a full explanation for obedience.
• / Agentic shift is an incomplete explanation


  E - The agentic shift does not explain all the findings, such as those who refuse to obey.

  E - This means that it can only account for some situations with obedience and does not fully explain why people don't obey.

  L - Therefore, the explanation of the agentic shift is not generalisable to people who do not obey.