OBEDIENCE

Question 1

what are the 2 explanations for obedience?

Answer 1

agentic state and legitimacy of authority

Question 2

what is the definition of agentic state?

Answer 2

someone not feeling responsible for their actions because they were obeying an authority figure, making that authority figure responsible for the individuals actions

Question 3

what was agentic state based on?

Answer 3

agency theory the individual tends to shift the blame onto the person who issued the order because of denial

Question 4

what is an example of someone being in agentic state?

Answer 4

open fire on civilians because your commander ordered you to then saying “I was just obeying orders”

~ an individual is in agentic state they feel removed from their actions

Question 5

what does agentic state allow people to do?

Answer 5

minimise responsibility and guilt about their actions because they are acting under someone else’s command which leads to blaming anyone but themselves

Question 6

what can also play a role in the agentic state?

Answer 6

Social hierarchies also play a part in this (the higher someone is, the more obedience is expected from lower than them which can mean it is easier to shift personal responsibility to them). Being apart of a social hierarchy is a binding factor which can contribute to destructive obedience

Question 7

what is the agentic shift?

Answer 7

when someone goes from making their own decisions to obeying an authority figures orders and blaming it on them

Question 8

what is a strength of agentic state?

Answer 8

strong external validity ~ holocaust (ordinary people made to do horrific thiings), rwandan genocide (neighbour against neighbour)

Question 9

what is a weakness of agentic state?

Answer 9

cannot explain why people do not obey even when they are justified in blaming someone else

Question 10

what was the sample for Milgram’s study?

Answer 10

40 american male volunteers

Question 11

what was Milgram trying to investigate?

Answer 11

the conflict between personal conscience and obedience to authority

Question 12

what was the method for Milgrams study?

Answer 12

A ‘teacher’ gave electric shocks (which were fake but the participants didnt know about this) to any incorrect answers the ‘learner’ gave

Question 13

what did Milgram find?

Answer 13

65% p’s went up to 450 volts, 100% went to 300 volts

~ behavioural responses include: shaking, crying, sweating etc

Question 14

what did Milgram conclude?

Answer 14

Destructive obedience is due to specific situational factors eg took place at Yale, volunteers were paid, experimenter was wearing a lab coat

Question 15

what is a strength of Milgrams study?

Answer 15

• High Internal Validity ~ Participants showed genuine stress (e.g., sweating, trembling), suggesting they believed the setup was real, which reduced the likelihood of demand characteristics
• replicable due to standardised procedures

Question 16

what is a weakness of Milgram’s study?

Answer 16

unethical ~ p’s deceived and went through both physical and psychological harm meaning it cannot be replicated today. The right to withdraw was not given (experimenters prods made it difficult to leave)

Question 17

what are situational factors of obedience?

Answer 17

external factors that influence how likely an individual is to follow orders

Question 18

how does proximity apply to obedience?

Answer 18

how close/far someone is, the more remote the victim, the easier it is to harm them

(if someone is out of sight it is easier to achieve destructive obedience since it can reduce moral strain).

Question 19

what is an example of proximity from Milgram’s study?

Answer 19

Teacher and learner put in separate rooms (when they were in he same room obedience dropped from 65% to 40%)

Question 20

how does uniform apply to obedience?

Answer 20

If the person perceives someone as someone to be an authority figure then they are more likely to obey them

(can be taught both directly and indirectly via societal and cultural norms from childhood experiences)

Question 21

what is an example of uniform from Milgram’s study?

Answer 21

Experimenter wore a lab coat which is a uniform to make him look like he was in charge (uniform confers authority on the wearer and results in higher levels of obedience)

Question 22

how does location apply to obedience?

Answer 22

location affects obedience, the less credible, low-status location resulted in a lower level of obedience

Question 23

what is an example of location?

Answer 23

Milgram conducted a variation to his original procedure to investigate the effect of location, as follows: Milgram ran the study in a run-down building in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Participants were told the experiment was being run by the Research Association of Bridgeport where there was no mention at all of Yale University

Question 24

what is a strength of situational factors?

Answer 24

has high ecological validity due to the participants’ lack of awareness of their participation in the study

the study also used a degree of control with its three distinct conditions of the independent variable which means that it has some reliability

Question 25

what is a weakness of situational factors?

Answer 25

Ignores Individual Differences ~ research, such as Rank and Jacobsen’s nurse study, showed high disobedience despite a uniform or authority figure, highlighting that personality factors, not just situations, drive behaviou.

Question 26

what is legitimacy of authority?

Answer 26

anyone with a legitimate status to issue orders

Question 27

what is an example of official and unofficial authority?

Answer 27

official = police officer unofficial = school bully

Question 28

what happens if someone perches another as an authority figure?

Answer 28

they are much more likely to obey orders from them than from someone who appears to lack status or authority (it is necessary for social hierarchies to exist for these reasons)

Question 29

what does being in charge lead to?

Answer 29

having responsibility but power can corrupt and lead to destructive obedience

Question 30

what can lack of obedience lead to

Answer 30

punishment or withdrawal of social approval

Question 31

what did Bickman show?

Answer 31

people are more likely to obey someone dressed as a security guard than someone dressed as a milkman - Plain clothes = lowest levels of obedience - Uniform = authority

Question 32

what is a strength of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 32

supporting evidence ~ blass and schmitt found that the legitimacy of authority is a valid concept when discussing destructive obedience

Question 33

what is a weakness of legitimacy of authority?

Answer 33

deterministic ~ implying that those who commit acts of destructive obedience have no control over their actions which ignores the idea of free will

Question 34

what is authoritarian personality?

Answer 34

a personality type that is more likely to obey authority and strictly follow rules

Question 35

what side of the nature v nurture debate is authoritarian personality on?

Answer 35

nurture

Question 36

what did Adorno claim about how this personality develops?

Answer 36

it is due to childhood experiences such as overbearing, dictational parents who do not encourage free will

Question 37

what do people with an authoritarian personality do?

Answer 37

look down on those with a weakness eg people of a different culture, homeless, mental illness etc could also feel resentment and/or towards authority figures (including parents) but direct these negative feelings towards lower status people

Question 38

what are parents of children with authoritarian personality more likely to do?

Answer 38

exert strong discipline at home, have high expectations of their children, show a version of love which is based on conditions ~ child learns these behaviours and attitudes then identifies with them

Question 39

what was the sample for Adorno's study?

Answer 39

2000 middle class white americans

Question 40

what was the method for Adorno's study?

Answer 40

participants completed the F-Scale questionnaire

Question 41

what did Adorno find?

Answer 41

high-obedience participants (did not feel close to their father when they were growing up) scored higher on the F-scale than the low-obedience participants

Question 42

what did Adorno conclude?

Answer 42

People with an authoritarian personality are more likely to be more obedient, respect social hierarchies and authority figures

Question 43

what is a strength of authoritarian personality?

Answer 43

F-scale is replicable since it used standardised questions Replication of original experiment observation helps to address any gaps in the original conclusion

Question 44

what is a weakness of authoritarian personality?

Answer 44

Questionnaire data is not 100% valid ~ people can lie (demand characteristics), may not remember details or have a social desirability bias overly simplistic since not everyone who shows high levels of obedience has an authoritarian personality ~ both reductionist and deterministic