Discuss one or more explanations of obedience (16 marks)
One explanation for obedience is the agency theory. This theory, proposed by Milgram, argues that we believe
that obedience to orders and rules are necessary, and that we give up a part of our free will when acting under
someone else's instructions. In this theory, there are two ‘states’: the agentic state and the autonomous state.
The agentic state is when we have given up our free will. It is when someone of a higher power gives us an
order, and we obey that order. Here, responsibility is not taken by the person committing the act, as they
believe that they were just acting under someone else's orders, and that they ‘had to do it’. The autonomous
state is the opposite, we have complete free will and choose our own actions in behaviours. A person in the
autonomous state would take responsibility for their actions.
The agency theory is clearly demonstrated in Milgram’s obedience experiment. The several ‘prods’ that
participants were given during this study by the ‘experimenter’ encouraged the participants to continue
administering shocks to Mr. Wallace. Here, the ‘experimenter’ acted as the agent to the participants, and the
participants were in an agentic state. They felt that they were not responsible for the pain they were causing
to Mr. Wallace as they were just acting under someone else's orders. This supports the agency theory by
showing that people are more likely to obey when they are in an agentic state.
However, this theory is slightly invalidated in the fact that it cannot explain Nazi behaviour. Nazi soldiers in
Poland have been described to shoot innocent civilians dead despite not being directly ordered to,and being
given the option to be assigned to other tasks. Although they were never specifically ordered to carry out this
act, they still carried it out. This may challenge the theory of the agentic state as they could have disobeyed
and not carried out these acts, but still chose to do it.
Another explanation of obedience is legitimacy of authority. This is when people obey others due to their
perceived (and respected) power in society. This generally happens if their power is seen as morally correct or
of a political basis but can happen in less moral situations too. Often this authority is signified by a uniform or
symbol of some kind, for example a police officer’s uniform, or high vis worn by security guards. If the order
given is potentially wrong or harmful and the person continues to obey, then it is likely that the person who is
giving the order has some high level of power granted to them by society.
Bickman et al conducted a study into how obedience can be affected by legitimacy of authority. The study was
a field study that took place on the streets of New York. People of New York were given orders to obey such as
‘pick up that bag and put it in the bin’ or ‘pay for this mans parking’ from people in one of three costumes: a
businessman, a milkman, or a security guard. It was found that people were most likely to obey the guard, with
74% of people obeying him compared to 30% obeying the pedestrian. This study supports the idea that
legitimacy of authority (vested) can have an effect on someone's likeliness to obey.
One explanation for obedience is the agency theory. This theory, proposed by Milgram, argues that we believe
that obedience to orders and rules are necessary, and that we give up a part of our free will when acting under
someone else's instructions. In this theory, there are two ‘states’: the agentic state and the autonomous state.
The agentic state is when we have given up our free will. It is when someone of a higher power gives us an
order, and we obey that order. Here, responsibility is not taken by the person committing the act, as they
believe that they were just acting under someone else's orders, and that they ‘had to do it’. The autonomous
state is the opposite, we have complete free will and choose our own actions in behaviours. A person in the
autonomous state would take responsibility for their actions.
The agency theory is clearly demonstrated in Milgram’s obedience experiment. The several ‘prods’ that
participants were given during this study by the ‘experimenter’ encouraged the participants to continue
administering shocks to Mr. Wallace. Here, the ‘experimenter’ acted as the agent to the participants, and the
participants were in an agentic state. They felt that they were not responsible for the pain they were causing
to Mr. Wallace as they were just acting under someone else's orders. This supports the agency theory by
showing that people are more likely to obey when they are in an agentic state.
However, this theory is slightly invalidated in the fact that it cannot explain Nazi behaviour. Nazi soldiers in
Poland have been described to shoot innocent civilians dead despite not being directly ordered to,and being
given the option to be assigned to other tasks. Although they were never specifically ordered to carry out this
act, they still carried it out. This may challenge the theory of the agentic state as they could have disobeyed
and not carried out these acts, but still chose to do it.
Another explanation of obedience is legitimacy of authority. This is when people obey others due to their
perceived (and respected) power in society. This generally happens if their power is seen as morally correct or
of a political basis but can happen in less moral situations too. Often this authority is signified by a uniform or
symbol of some kind, for example a police officer’s uniform, or high vis worn by security guards. If the order
given is potentially wrong or harmful and the person continues to obey, then it is likely that the person who is
giving the order has some high level of power granted to them by society.
Bickman et al conducted a study into how obedience can be affected by legitimacy of authority. The study was
a field study that took place on the streets of New York. People of New York were given orders to obey such as
‘pick up that bag and put it in the bin’ or ‘pay for this mans parking’ from people in one of three costumes: a
businessman, a milkman, or a security guard. It was found that people were most likely to obey the guard, with
74% of people obeying him compared to 30% obeying the pedestrian. This study supports the idea that
legitimacy of authority (vested) can have an effect on someone's likeliness to obey.
