SituationalEXPLANATION

• Agentic state


  When an individual gives up their autonomy and moral responsibility to an authority figure. In this state, the individual perceives themselves as an agent of the authority figure and is willing to carry out their commands, even if it goes against their own moral code.
• Milgram's initial interest in obedience was sparked by the trial of Adolf Eichmann's justification in 1961 for the horrific crimes he committed, despite the harm he knew he was causing.
• Eichmann was in charge of the Nazi death camps and his defence was that he was only obeying orders.
• Eichmann's defence of 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 i.e. they are an agent.
• Autonomous state, this is where we are independent and have free will over our actions, so the person behave according to their own principles and feels a sense of responsibility for their own actions. 'Autonomy' means to be independent/free. • When we perceive someone to be higher up the social hierarchy than us we are likely to act as an agent for them, believing that it is not our responsibility but instead we are simply following orders. This is called acting in a mental ‘agentic state.’ To shift from autonomy to ‘agency’ is called ‘the agentic shift’.
• BINDING FACTORS We might feel a sense of anxiety or moral strain if what we are doing is wrong, but we are powerless as we are in a lower position in the social hierarchy. Binding factors are those that keep you in the agentic state, even when we want to disobey. These factors reduce our anxiety such as reassuring ourselves it is not our responsibility, justify your actions by minimising the impact or blaming the victim
• This explanation suggests that people will obey someone they perceive to be ‘above’ them in the social hierarchy, and therefore think they have the right to give orders. • This is linked with the uniform factor, as a uniform conveys a sense of legitimacy and authority. • This authority is ‘rightful’, as it is agreed by society that it is necessary for some people to be able to tell others what to do in some situations.
• DESTRUCTIVE AUTHORITY • This is when legitimate authority becomes destructive, such as Hitler, Stalin etc • This is when power is used for damaging purposes • In Milgram's experiment, the experimenter displayed destructive authority when they were prodding and encouraging the teacher, making the participants go against their own moral judgement and potentially kill another human being
• Agentic state


  A state in which a person sees themselves as an agent of the authority figure, rather than as an autonomous individual
• Participants showing signs of resistance

  Verbal prods quickly resulted in participants going back into the agentic state
• Autonomous state


  A state in which a person sees themselves as an autonomous individual, rather than as an agent of the authority figure
• Example of participant in autonomous state


  • Participant asking the experimenter who was responsible if Mr Wallace was harmed
• Experimenter explaining they were responsible, not the participant

  Participant continued with the study and slipped back into the agentic state
• Milgram's study


  • Supports the role of the agentic state in obedience
  • Indicates the validity of the theory
• Hofling et al (1966) study


  • 22 nurses were phoned by a fake doctor
  • Told to administer 20mg of the drug 'Astrogen' to a patient
  • Astrogen was a made-up drug with a label clearly stating the maximum daily dose was 10mg
  • By obeying the doctors, the nurses would be breaking 3 important rules of nursing
  • 20 out of the 22 nurses obeyed the doctors
• Nurses obeying the doctors


  They were acting as an agent for the doctor whilst obeying their orders
• This supports the agentic state explanation
• Legitimacy of authority explanation


  A useful account of cultural difference obedience
• This reflects the ways that different societies are structured and how children are raised to perceive authority figures
• Many studies show that countries differ in the degree to which people are obedient to authority
• Obedience levels in Milgram study


  • 16% of female Australian participants went all the way up to 450% volts
  • 85% of German participants went up to 450% volts
• Cultural differences in obedience levels


  Different cultures have different social hierarchies
• Legitimacy


  Cannot explain instances of disobedience to legitimacy authority
• Some people may just be more (or less) obedient than others
• Innate tendencies to obey or disobey have a greater influence on behaviours than the legitimacy of an authority figure
• Rank and Jacobson's study


  • Most participants were disobedient despite working in a strict hierarchical authority structure
• Milgram's participants


  • A significant minority disobeyed despite recognising the experimenter's scientific authority
• Including real world crime rates