Obedience

• Obedience means to comply with the demands of someone you see as an authority figure
• When orders come from a figure of authority we can easily deny personal responsibility as it is assumed they will take ultimate responsibility

  • we become ‘agents’ to authority
• The agentic shift is when the fully obedient person undergoes a psychological shift or adjustment and they see themselves as the agent of external validity
• • The external authority - Authority of the authority figure
  • The internal authority - Authority of our own conscience
• Milgrams interest in obedience was sparked by the trials of Nazis who had worked in death camps but claim they were just ‘obeying orders’
• Agentic state as an explanation of obedience

  • i.e: An individual carrying out the orders of an authority figure so acting as their agent
• Autonomous state:

  The opposite of an agentic state and means the person has autonomy over their actions and can act accoridng to their own principles
• Binding Factors:

  During Milgram’s experiment he saw that many PPs wanted to stop but seemed powerless to do so

  • Therefore they stayed in the agentic state due to binding factors
• Legitimacy of Authority:

  Most human societies are ordered in legitimate way (a hierarchy) where some do have social power above those beneath them

  • we trust those with authority and obey them because they have the power to punish us
• Destructive authority and obedience:

  • This is when power is used for destructive purposes and when obedience is used to harm other.
  • In Milgram’s experiment, the experimenter displayed destructive authority when they were prodding and encouraging the teacher to continue with electric shock

  ————> The PP demonstrated destructive obedience when they acted against their conscience
• Explanations of obedience PEEL 1:

  Strength - legitimacy of authority - is supported by cultural differences - in countries where obedience and deference to authority are less valued (Australia), obedience rates are much lower then in countries that value legitimate authority figures (such as Germany)
• Explanations of obedience PEEL 2:

  Blass and Schmidt (2001) - asked observers to explain who they thought was responsible for the harm to learners in Milgrams Study - most thought the experimenter was responsible, so supporting the agentic state explanation
• Explanations of obedience PEEL 3:

  Weakness - The agentic shift can’t explain why some PPs in Milgrams study didn’t obey, as in theory, they should all have been in the agentic state
• Obedience may be due to a person's personality rather than situational factors
• People with a high external locus of control are more likely to follow orders as they take less personal responsibility and are more affected by what others tell them
• People with high internal locus of control are more likely to be self-directed and less like to follow orders from an authorative figure if they do not agree
• The authoritarian personality:

  • tends to show extreme respect for authority, status and hierarchies
  • despise those they consider to be 'weak'
  • has conventional attitudes towards gender, sexuality, race etc
  • Is rigid in their beliefs and likely to have right-wing political views
• People with the authoritarian personality are likely to be a result of harsh parenting in which discipline was key and an expectation of 'perfect' behaviour
• Adorno et al (1975) - Procedure:

  • Developed a questionnaire called the F-scale (fascist scale) to test whether someone had an authoritarian personality
  • He studied more than 2000 middle class, white Americans and there unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
• Adorno et al (1975) -Example Question from F-scale:

  1. Obedience and respect are the most important virtues for children to learn
• Adorno et al (1975) - Findings:

  Those who score higher on the F-scale identified with:

  • had contempt for the weak
  • strong people
  • admired 'high status' individuals
  • 'black and white' views
• The authoritarian personality contrasts with situational variable
• Authoritarian personality - PEEL 1:

  Strength - Elms and Milgram interviewed a small sample of Milgram's original PPs completed the F-scale and found that when PPs obeyed, they scored higher on the F-Scale than those who disobeyed
• Authoritarian personality - PEEL 2:

  Strength - Real life evidence of authoritarian personality is seen in the behaviour of right wing dictators such as Mussolini
• Authoritarian personality - PEEL 3:

  Weakness - extreme left wing personalities also show high levels of authoritarianism
• Authoritarian personality - PEEL 4:

  Weakness - A self-report questionnaire is open to social desirability and misuse