Situational explanations of obedience

• Agentic shift

  One strength of the agents shift is that there is research support from Milgram's study. Most of Milgram's ppts persisted and asked questions. For example, one ppt asked 'who is responsible if the learner is harmed?' The experimenter replied 'I am responsible.' Therefore, the ppt continued to obey. This shows that once ppts realised that they weren't responsible, they acted more freely as an agent
• Agentic shift


  One limitation of the agents shift is that it is a limited explanation. It doesn't explain many research findings about obedience. For example, where almost all nurses remained autonomous despite presence of authority figure, doctor. Suggests that agentic shift can only account for some situations.
• Legitimacy of authority

  One strength of legitimacy of authority is that it explains cultural differences. Many studies show that obedience to authority varies between countries. Research findings show that 16% of Australian females went to 450v compared to 85% of German females. Shows that depending on culture, authority is more likely to accepted as legitimate.