Agentic state:

• • Milgram's initial interest in obedience was sparked by Eichmann in 1961 for war crimes
  • Eichmann had been in charge of the Nazi death camps and his defence was that he was only obeying orders
  • Led Milgram to propose that obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person does not take responsibility
  • Instead they believe they are acting for someone else ie that they are an agent
  • An agent is someone who acts for or in place of another

  An agent is not an unfeeling puppet - they experience high anxiety when they realise that what they are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey
• Autonomous state


  • Opposite of an agentic state is autonomous state
  • Means to be independent
  • A person in an autonomous state is free to behave according to their own principles feels a sense of responsibility for their own action
  • Shift from autonomy to agency is called the agentic shift
  • Milgram suggested this occurs when a person perceives someone as an authority figure
  • Authority figure has greater power as they have a higher position in social hierarchy
  • In most social groups when 1 person is in charge others defer to the legitimate authority of this person and shift from autonomy to agency
• Milgram observed that many of his pp said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless to do so

  He wondered why they remained in an agentic state. The answer is binding factors - aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore

  the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the 'moral strain' they are feeling. Milgram proposed a number of strategies that the individual uses, such as shifting the responsibility to the victim (he was foolish to volunteer') or denying the damage they were doing to the victim