Obedience: Social-Psychological Factors
A01 - KNOWLEDGE A03 - EVALUATION
Outline and evaluate two explanations of obedience
- Milgram proposed that obedience to - Blass and Schmitt showed a film of
destructive authority occurs because a Milgram's study to students and asked
person doesn't take responsibility. them to identify who they felt was
Instead, they believe they are acting responsible for the harm to the
for someone else, so they are an learner, Mr. Wallace. The students
'agent' and an agent is someone who blamed the 'experimenter' rather than
acts for or in place of another. An the P and students also indicated that
agent experiences high anxiety or the responsibility was due to
'moral strain' when they realise that legitimate authority, but also due to
what they are doing is wrong, but feel expert authority. In other words, they
powerless to disobey. recognised legitimate authority as the
- The opposite of being in an agentic cause of obedience, supporting this
state is an autonomous state as explanation.
'autonomy' means to be independent - The agentic shift doesn't explain many
or free. Therefore, a person in an of the research findings, so only offers
autonomous state is free to behave a limited explanation. For example, it
according to their own principles and doesn't explain why some of the Ps
as a result feels a sense of didn't obey and the agentic shift
responsibility for their own actions. explanation doesn't explain the
The shift from autonomy to 'agency' is findings from Hofling et al's study. The
called the agentic shift and Milgram agentic shift explanation predicts that,
suggested that this occurs when a as the nurses handed over
person perceives someone else as a responsibility to the doctor, they
figure of authority. This other person should have shown levels of anxiety
has greater power due to their similar to Milgram's Ps, as they
position in a social hierarchy. In most understood their role in a destructive
social groups, when one person is in process. However, this was not the
charge, others defer to this person and case and this suggests that agentic
shift from autonomy to agency. shift can only account for some
situations of obedience.
- Milgram raised the question of why - A strength of the legitimacy of
the individual remains in this agentic authority explanation is that it is a
A01 - KNOWLEDGE A03 - EVALUATION
Outline and evaluate two explanations of obedience
- Milgram proposed that obedience to - Blass and Schmitt showed a film of
destructive authority occurs because a Milgram's study to students and asked
person doesn't take responsibility. them to identify who they felt was
Instead, they believe they are acting responsible for the harm to the
for someone else, so they are an learner, Mr. Wallace. The students
'agent' and an agent is someone who blamed the 'experimenter' rather than
acts for or in place of another. An the P and students also indicated that
agent experiences high anxiety or the responsibility was due to
'moral strain' when they realise that legitimate authority, but also due to
what they are doing is wrong, but feel expert authority. In other words, they
powerless to disobey. recognised legitimate authority as the
- The opposite of being in an agentic cause of obedience, supporting this
state is an autonomous state as explanation.
'autonomy' means to be independent - The agentic shift doesn't explain many
or free. Therefore, a person in an of the research findings, so only offers
autonomous state is free to behave a limited explanation. For example, it
according to their own principles and doesn't explain why some of the Ps
as a result feels a sense of didn't obey and the agentic shift
responsibility for their own actions. explanation doesn't explain the
The shift from autonomy to 'agency' is findings from Hofling et al's study. The
called the agentic shift and Milgram agentic shift explanation predicts that,
suggested that this occurs when a as the nurses handed over
person perceives someone else as a responsibility to the doctor, they
figure of authority. This other person should have shown levels of anxiety
has greater power due to their similar to Milgram's Ps, as they
position in a social hierarchy. In most understood their role in a destructive
social groups, when one person is in process. However, this was not the
charge, others defer to this person and case and this suggests that agentic
shift from autonomy to agency. shift can only account for some
situations of obedience.
- Milgram raised the question of why - A strength of the legitimacy of
the individual remains in this agentic authority explanation is that it is a
