Social influence: Explanations for Obedience essay
6)Outine and evaluate one or more explanations of why people obey (16 marks)
Milgrim proposed the agentic state as an explanation of obedience. This is a mental state
where a person is most likelly to obey an order, because they see themselves as having no
personal responsibility for their behavour, they are acting on behalf of another person.
Whereas the Autonomous state, is when an individual can remain independent, direct their
behavour, and take responsibility for their actions. When a person moves from the
autonomous state into the agentic state it is called the ‘agentic shift’ which takes place when
we perceive someone as an authority figure and respect their orders (acting as an agent to
carry out their wishes). This person has power due to their social position. Binding factors
are aspects of a situation that allow a person to minimise and ignore the damaging effect of
their behaviour reducing the 'moral strain'. For example, denying responsibility for the victim
or the damage done to them.
Research support for the Agentic State comes from Milgrim. In his study participants were
unaware that they would be able to shock the learner at such a high voltage. It was originally
predicted that only 1 in 1000 would go to 450 volts, however when an authoritative figure
was saying that they would take responsibility for it, 65% went to 400 volts. Furthermore, the
original study took place in the prestigious setting of Yale University, so knowing that the
university would be responsible for the consequences of the participants behavour, helped
them shift into the agentic state. This shows that when a person is freed from their demands
of conscience and responsibility they are able to obey even a destructive authority figure.
However, the agentic state can’t explain all research findings, why some individuals don’t
obey. Milgrims study and the Holocaust show some individuals can be more obedient than
others. E.g. in Milgrims research despite 65% obeying orders, many did not, suggesting
some personality types are more susceptible to the ‘agentic state’ than others. Zimmers
theory of ‘authoritarian personality’ supports this, he found that Natzi and US soldiers
personalities differ slightly. Therefore, due to individual and cultural differences not all
behavours can be explained by the Agentic Theory.
Another explanation for obedience is legitimacy of the authority which means we are more
likely to obey people who we perceive to have ‘real’ authority over us. This is judged by the
individuals position of power within the social hierarchy. Obedience refers to the amount of
social power held by an authority figure. If a person demonstrates they have social power,
(through appearance/mannerisms, a person is more likely to obey them. This may be
because through childhood we have learnt to give up some of our independence to people
we trust to exercise their authority properly. However we may also obey those of legitamate
authority as they may have the power to punish us e.g. police.
Research support for the legitimacy of authority comes from Hofling. In his study, 22
unaware nurses were told to administer 20mg of a drug to a patient, when the box said the
maximum dosage was 10mg. He found that 21 nurses obeyed the doctors orders with only 1
questioning the identity of the researcher. Doctors are more senior and of higher status to
nurses so they see them as a legitimate authority and obey. This shows that people are very
6)Outine and evaluate one or more explanations of why people obey (16 marks)
Milgrim proposed the agentic state as an explanation of obedience. This is a mental state
where a person is most likelly to obey an order, because they see themselves as having no
personal responsibility for their behavour, they are acting on behalf of another person.
Whereas the Autonomous state, is when an individual can remain independent, direct their
behavour, and take responsibility for their actions. When a person moves from the
autonomous state into the agentic state it is called the ‘agentic shift’ which takes place when
we perceive someone as an authority figure and respect their orders (acting as an agent to
carry out their wishes). This person has power due to their social position. Binding factors
are aspects of a situation that allow a person to minimise and ignore the damaging effect of
their behaviour reducing the 'moral strain'. For example, denying responsibility for the victim
or the damage done to them.
Research support for the Agentic State comes from Milgrim. In his study participants were
unaware that they would be able to shock the learner at such a high voltage. It was originally
predicted that only 1 in 1000 would go to 450 volts, however when an authoritative figure
was saying that they would take responsibility for it, 65% went to 400 volts. Furthermore, the
original study took place in the prestigious setting of Yale University, so knowing that the
university would be responsible for the consequences of the participants behavour, helped
them shift into the agentic state. This shows that when a person is freed from their demands
of conscience and responsibility they are able to obey even a destructive authority figure.
However, the agentic state can’t explain all research findings, why some individuals don’t
obey. Milgrims study and the Holocaust show some individuals can be more obedient than
others. E.g. in Milgrims research despite 65% obeying orders, many did not, suggesting
some personality types are more susceptible to the ‘agentic state’ than others. Zimmers
theory of ‘authoritarian personality’ supports this, he found that Natzi and US soldiers
personalities differ slightly. Therefore, due to individual and cultural differences not all
behavours can be explained by the Agentic Theory.
Another explanation for obedience is legitimacy of the authority which means we are more
likely to obey people who we perceive to have ‘real’ authority over us. This is judged by the
individuals position of power within the social hierarchy. Obedience refers to the amount of
social power held by an authority figure. If a person demonstrates they have social power,
(through appearance/mannerisms, a person is more likely to obey them. This may be
because through childhood we have learnt to give up some of our independence to people
we trust to exercise their authority properly. However we may also obey those of legitamate
authority as they may have the power to punish us e.g. police.
Research support for the legitimacy of authority comes from Hofling. In his study, 22
unaware nurses were told to administer 20mg of a drug to a patient, when the box said the
maximum dosage was 10mg. He found that 21 nurses obeyed the doctors orders with only 1
questioning the identity of the researcher. Doctors are more senior and of higher status to
nurses so they see them as a legitimate authority and obey. This shows that people are very
