obedience

• Adolf Eichmann: 'He was "only obeying orders"'
• Agentic state


  Mental state where an individual feels they are acting as an 'agent' for an authority figure, holding no personal responsibility for their behaviour
• Autonomous state


  Behaving according to one's own principles and feeling responsibility for actions; 'autonomous means independent'
• Agentic shift

  When an individual shifts from an autonomous state to an agentic state due to a perceived authority figure
• Binding factors

  Aspects of the situation that allow continued obedience by ignoring or minimising damaging effects of behaviour
• Binding factors examples

  • Not wanting to seem arrogant or rude
  • Shifting responsibility to the victim
  • Denying any damage to the victim
• Self-image


  The need to maintain a positive self-image, which may conflict with obedience
• In an agentic state, individuals experience high anxiety and moral strain when they realise their actions are wrong but feel powerless to disobey
• Participants acted more easily in giving shocks

  If told that the experimenter was responsible for any harm to the "learner"
• This shows that agentic state is a valid explanation of obedience
• Legitimate authority


  When a person's authority is justified by their position within society (e.g., teachers, police officers)
• Destructive authority


  When a legitimate authority figure uses their power for destructive purposes
• Hierarchy


  Most societies are structured hierarchically, with certain individuals holding authority over others
• Most of us accept that authority figures should exercise social power over others as it allows society to run smoothly
• Authorities have their legitimacy through society's agreement
• We hand control of our behaviour over to authority figures because we trust them
• Our upbringing teaches us to obey authority through our parents and teachers
• Legitimacy explanation


  A useful account of cultural differences in obedience
• Many studies show that countries differ in obedience
• Legitimacy does not explain why some people don’t obey (only 65% did)
• This means there must be another reason for disobedience, such as personality or culture
• Therefore, legitimacy cannot be the only reason behind authority
• Another explanation


  Foot in the door