Agentic state

• ‘Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive

process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and

they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.’

• • Milgram. The Perils of Obedience, 1974.

MILGRAM RECAP…

• Voltage went up in ____v increments• The ‘__________’ was actually a confederate of the study• The ‘teacher’ was given a ‘tester’ shock of _____v at the

beginning of the study• ____% of ppts went to 300v • ____% of ppts went to 450volts• ____% were originally predicted to go to 450volts

KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING…

• 1. 1963• 2. Nazis • 3. Advert• 4. Learner• 5. 15 Volts• 6. Heart

• 7. No Choice• 8. 300 Volts• 9. 450 Volts• 10. Ecological Validity• 11. Orne & Holland (1968)• 12. Internal Validity

• 13. Ethnocentricism• 14. Blass (1999)• 15. Child of it’s time• 16. Burger (2009)• 17. Deception & I.C.• 18. Right to

Withdraw

VARIATION 1

• The experiment took place in a run down office building

• Higher or lower obedience rate?• 48%

VARIATION 2

• The teacher and learner were in the same room

• Higher or lower obedience rate than the original?• 40%

VARIATION 3

• The teacher had to force the learners hand down on to the shock plate

• Higher or lower obedience rate than the original?

• 30%

VARIATION 4

• Experimenter gave instructions to the teacher over the phone

• Higher or lower obedience rate than the original?• 20%

VARIATION 5

• Participants worked in groups to shock the learner. Two rebelled and refused to go on

• Higher or lower obedience rate than the original?• 10%

VARIATION 6

• Someone else administered the shock

• Higher or lower obedience rate than the original?• 92.5%

BUSHMAN, (1988)

• Female researcher dressed in either a police uniform, a business executive or a homeless person.

• She stopped people in the street and asked them to give change to a male confederate at a parking metre

BUSHMAN, (1988)

• Appears Homeless = 52%

• Business Executive = 48%

• Police Uniform = 72%

WHY??

• Uniform = Legitimacy

Unnecessary to question the status of the authority figure.

ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY OF OBEDIENCE RESEARCH…

• Mandel (1998)

Challenges the relevance of obedience research as an explanation of real-life atrocities. On 13th July 1942, in Jozefow, Poland, the men of Reserve Batallion 101 received orders to carry out a mass killing of Jews. Their commanding officer, Major Wilhelm Trapp, made an offer to his men that anyone who ‘didn’t feel up to this duty’ could be assigned other duties.

Despite the presence of factors shown by Milgram to increase defiance (e.g. close proximity to victim; presence of disobedient peers) only a small minority took up Trapp’s offer. The vast majority carried out their orders without protest.

EXAM PREP…

• Outline what Milgram did in his study of obedience and the findings of this study (6 Marks)

• Explain the role of Proximity as a variable affecting Obedience(3 marks)

• Explain the role of Uniform as a variable affecting Obedience(3 marks)

AGENTIC STATE & LEGITIMACY OF

AUTHORITY…OUTLINE AND EVALUATE ‘AGENTIC STATE’ THEORY OF OBEDIENCE

OUTLINE AND EVALUATE ‘LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY’ THEORY OF OBEDIENCE

SO WHY DID WE OBEY AT THE DETRIMENT OF OTHERS?

• 2 Explanations…

• 1. Agentic State• 2. Legitimate Authority

Milgram proposed that 1 reason so many ppts went to 450v is because they were no longer behaving as an individual, but an agent of the authority figure

• “Allowing others to direct your actions and passing the responsibility to the person giving the orders”

AGENTIC STATE

AGENTIC SHIFT

• Moving from a state of autonomy to an agentic state

• You feel less responsible for your own actions and behave as an ‘agent’ to the authority figure

WHY DO WE ADOPT AN AGENTIC STATE?

• We constantly try to maintain a ‘positive self-image’.

• Electrocuting an innocent person does not reflect very well on our positive self images.

WHY DO WE ADOPT AN AGENTIC STATE?

• However, when an individual has adopted an Agentic State, their actions are no longer their responsibility…

• …so they no longer reflect on their self-image.

WHY WAS IT SO HARD TO LEAVE THE EXPERIMENT?

• Binding Factors are things that tie you into certain situations

• Guilt • Not wanting to appear rude/arrogant• Unwillingness to break commitment to experimenter.

LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY

• Someone who is perceived to be in a position of social control within a situation

EXPECTATION OF AUTHORITY

• Milgram (1974) believed that there is a shared expectation among people that many situations do have a socially controlling figure.

• Therefore ppts expected an authority figure when they entered the lab.

DEFINITIONS OF A SITUATION

• We have a tendency to accept definitions of a situation that are provided by legitimate authorities

• We believe they know best.

DEFINITIONS OF A SITUATION

• Experimenter remained calm = must be fine

• Urged ppt. to continue = must be important

REQUIRES AN INSTITUTION

• When the orders from the Legitimate Authority are to harm another person, there needs to be an institution context for ppts to obey.

EXAM PREP

6 marks

OUTLINE THE ROLE OF THE AGENTIC STATE IN OBEDIENCE, (4 MARKS)

• 6x A01

• 3x Agentic State – (Agentic Shift; Self-image; Binding Factors)• 3x Legitimate Authority – (Expectation; Definition of

Situation; Requires institution)

• One explanation of obedience is the Agentic State theory. This theorises that

we obey commands from an authority figure because of reduced feelings of

control or autonomy in our actions and increased perception of working as an

agent for the authority figure (Agentic Shift). This reduces the amount of

responsibility we hold over our actions and once in this agentic state, we are

likely to obey further demands due to binding factors such as fear of breaking a

commitment or appearing arrogant in reusing to obey.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU WOULD WRITE DOWN FOR THIS QUESTION?

4 marks