OUTLINE AND EVALUATE EXPLANATIONS OF OBEDIENCE
One reason people obey is that they enter an agentic state which is where there is a
shift between an autonomous state and an agentic one. This is known as the agentic
shift. It happens when someone is seen with more authority making you respect
them. The agentic state means you stop taking responsibility for your actions
because you’re doing so on behalf of someone else as you believe the authority
figure will take the blame. For example, denying causing damage to a victim because
you were following a request of a person in authority. Another reason people obey is
due to the legitimacy of authority. This so where you listen because someone holds a
higher status over you. All societies are arranged in hierarchies with people in certain
positions holding power over everyone else. Most people trust these people to do so
due to experiences with teachers and parents during childhood and we let this
happen to make society run smoother.
One piece of evidence to support the agentic state is that it has real life application. This is
because the Nazi officers carried out inhumane orders given by Hitler against the
Jewish people and when put on trial claimed they weren’t to blame as they were
following orders. This shows an agentic shift took place because they did not feel
responsible. However, this ignores free will meaning it may not be the only reason
they obeyed, it could have been fear, so we need to consider other factors to fully
understand why people obey.
One piece of evidence to support legitimacy of authority comes from Milgram who found
that when a person in a lab coat gave the instruction, 65% of pps delivered the full
voltage electric shock but when a person in everyday clothes gave the instruction,
only 20% of pps did it. He also found obedience rates dropped in the other variations
too. This suggests that obedience changes with the authenticity of the authority.
However, it fails to account for dispositional factors like the authoritarian personality
to explain why obedience levels dropped.
One piece of evidence that criticises legitimacy to authority comes from Kilham and Mann
who found 16% obedience rate in Australians and 85% obedience rate in Germans,
in a study like Milgram's. This shows that authority is more likely to be accepted as
legitimate in some cultures and reflects how different societies are raised to perceive
authority figures in different ways. It suggests that the legitimacy of authority is
culturally biased and so reduces the levels of its validity. However, by having
supportive cross-cultural research added to the theory, the explanation becomes a
more rounded explanation of obedience and so makes it a more is a useful account.
One reason people obey is that they enter an agentic state which is where there is a
shift between an autonomous state and an agentic one. This is known as the agentic
shift. It happens when someone is seen with more authority making you respect
them. The agentic state means you stop taking responsibility for your actions
because you’re doing so on behalf of someone else as you believe the authority
figure will take the blame. For example, denying causing damage to a victim because
you were following a request of a person in authority. Another reason people obey is
due to the legitimacy of authority. This so where you listen because someone holds a
higher status over you. All societies are arranged in hierarchies with people in certain
positions holding power over everyone else. Most people trust these people to do so
due to experiences with teachers and parents during childhood and we let this
happen to make society run smoother.
One piece of evidence to support the agentic state is that it has real life application. This is
because the Nazi officers carried out inhumane orders given by Hitler against the
Jewish people and when put on trial claimed they weren’t to blame as they were
following orders. This shows an agentic shift took place because they did not feel
responsible. However, this ignores free will meaning it may not be the only reason
they obeyed, it could have been fear, so we need to consider other factors to fully
understand why people obey.
One piece of evidence to support legitimacy of authority comes from Milgram who found
that when a person in a lab coat gave the instruction, 65% of pps delivered the full
voltage electric shock but when a person in everyday clothes gave the instruction,
only 20% of pps did it. He also found obedience rates dropped in the other variations
too. This suggests that obedience changes with the authenticity of the authority.
However, it fails to account for dispositional factors like the authoritarian personality
to explain why obedience levels dropped.
One piece of evidence that criticises legitimacy to authority comes from Kilham and Mann
who found 16% obedience rate in Australians and 85% obedience rate in Germans,
in a study like Milgram's. This shows that authority is more likely to be accepted as
legitimate in some cultures and reflects how different societies are raised to perceive
authority figures in different ways. It suggests that the legitimacy of authority is
culturally biased and so reduces the levels of its validity. However, by having
supportive cross-cultural research added to the theory, the explanation becomes a
more rounded explanation of obedience and so makes it a more is a useful account.
