Explanations of obedience

• Legitimacy of authority is the recognition of a social hierarchy which make us obey those seen as higher.
• Legitimacy of authority is socialised from childhood.
• The impact of legitimacy of authority is increased by visible signs of authority such as titles, uniforms, and insignia.
• Agentic state refers to a state at which an individual is acting under an authority figure.
• In the agentic state, individuals feel no responsibility for their actions.
• Agentic state includes binding factors such as blaming the victim.
• Binding factors are ways that people can justify their behaviour when they have acted against their conscience.
• AO3 - LOA

  :) - Milgram's variations

  When uniform changed from a grey lab coat to plain clothes obedience dropped from 65% to 20%

  This is because the symbol of legitimacy of authority was relinquished and there was no longer a hierarchal difference.

  The uniform symbolises knowledge and importance.
• AO3 - AS

  :) - Blass and Schmitt

  Pps were shown footage of milgram's experiment and asked who was to blame.

  They found pps stated the experimenter was and that the ppt was naive and acting under authority.

  Shows the theory has face validity because someone else is 'responsible' for your actions and you're more likely to obey orders as the agentic state suggests.
• AO3 - LOA

  :) - Bickman et al

  Milkman, security guard and suit and tie uniforms were used and they asked people to pick up litter or pay for a parking metre.

  They found people were 2x more likely to obey the security guard.

  This is because the security uniform represents power, establishing a distinct hierarchy between them, enforcing the idea of legitimate authority.
• AO3 - AS

  :( - Mandel

  American soliders were told to do other duties in WW2. However, they still proceded to shoot Polish civillians.

  This shows the soldiers disobeying the senior soldier and were actually in an autonomous state despite perceiving an agentic state.

  This contradicts the agentic state and limits its explanation as individuals still act autonomously even when under authority.