situational explanations of obedience

• The agentic state is a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure. This frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey even a destructive authority figure.
• The opposite of an agentic state is an autonomous state, where the person is fully in control of their actions.
• the shift from autonomy to agency is called the agentic shift. Milgram suggested this occurs when a person perceives someone else as an authority figure. The authority figure has greater power because they are higher in the social hierarchy.
• Milgram observed that many of his ppts said they wanted to stop but seemed powerless. He wondered why they remained in an agentic state. The answer is binding factors- aspects of the situation that allow the person to minimise or ignore the damaging effect of their behaviour and thus reduce the 'moral strain' they are feeling.
• Legitimacy of authority is an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey someone we believe has the right to give orders/have more authority over us. this authority is justified (legitimate) by the individual's position of power within a social hierarchy.
• EVALUATION OF AGENTIC STATE:

  1. one strength is that Milgram's own studies support the role of the agentic state in obedience. One of the ppts asked Milgram 'Who is responsible if the learner is hurt' and Milgram replied with 'I'm responsible', the ppt then went through the procedure quickly with no further objections.
• EVALUATION OF AGENTIC STATE:

  1. one limitation is that the agentic shift doesn't explain many research findings about obedience. In a study conducted by Rank & Jacobson, nurses were asked to administer an excessive drug dose to a patient and 16 out of 18 nurses refused to obey the order given by a clear authority figure (Doctor). This suggests the Agentic shift can only account for some situations of obedience.
• EVALUATION OF LEGITIMACY OF AUTHORITY:

  1. cannot explain instances of disobedience in a hierarchy where the legitimacy of authority is clear and accepted. This includes the nurses in Rank & Jacobson's study, where most of the nurses were disobedient to the orders despite being lower in the hierarchy. Also, a significant minority disobeyed Milgram even after acknowledging his scientific authority. this suggests some people may be more or less obedient than others.