| According to Milgram how is a stable society maintained? | Only maintianed if sometimes we give up our individuality and instead obey the social rules. |
| What is autonomous state? | Individuals are free to direct their own behaviour, take responsibility for the results and exercise understanding of right from wrong. |
| What is agentic state? | Individuals allow others to direct thier behaviour and assume that responsbility passes to that person. Their own conscience is not in control; they are mearly acting as agents for others. |
| What is agentic shift? | When we move from an autonomous state to an agentic state. Caused by someone who has authority through status or unifrom for example. |
| What is moral strain? | Occurs when people are asked to do something that they wouldn't choose to do themselves, it makes them feel immoral and unjust. In extreme circumstances, can show outward signs of anxiety and distrss. |
| What did Milgram say participants do to lessen moral strain? | Used defense mechanisms |
| Example of defense mechanisms? | Denial, avoidance, degree of involvement, helping the learner |
| What are binding factors ? | The reason people stay in their agentic state. There are aspects of the situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the moral stain they are feeling |
| Examples of binding facts? | fear of punishment, blaming the victim, getting paid, buffer (wall etc), denying the damage they are doing. |
| What is legitimate authority? | Some people have positions of authority because they have been entrusted by society with certain powers eg. Police |
| What is power? | One power is the power to punish, so we obey authoirty out of fear of punishment, which learn in childhood |
| What is destructive obedience? | We behave in a cruel way if the legitimate authoirty orders us to do something destructive |
| What did Milgram say about people with a high status? | People are more likely to obey someone who has a higher position or status in a social hierchary, real or perceived. This causes obedience from perceived postion socially not their perosnal characteristics. Taught from a young age to accept legitimate authority, like parents, teachers and adults |
| A strength of legitimacy of authority? | Real life application of war crimes.
Kelman and Hamiltion of the My Lai massacre, killed 504 innocent people, they were following orders form the lieutenant. Shows that someone with legitimate authority from rank can punish people, therefore fear of punishment. External validity |
| A strength of legitimacy of authority? | Useful account of why there are cultural variations of obdience. Surides show that countroes differ with obedience to authority, like Australia.
Kilham and Man, 16% obedience for females went to full 450V unlike 65% in original milgram study. Socties must follow alternative hierarchal social structure, taught differently at a young age to more or less obedident to authority figures |
| A weakness of legitimacy of authority? | Doesn't explain all instances of disobedience.
Rank and Jacobson, field experiment to test obedience in a hospital. 16/18 nurses disobyed orders from a doctor and didn't administer the dosage. Suggests that some people are more or less obedient than other, but the theory doesn't explain why. Theory can account for some situations only. |
| A strength of Agentic state explanation ? | Research support from Milgram
Ppts asked experimenter who was responsible for actions and the experimenter replied that they were, no futhur objections.
They didn't feel personally responsible for the actions, acting as an agent for the experimenter
Supports the theory, people will do something if they don't have to take responsibility |
| A weakness of agentic state theory? | Doens't explain all research findings.
Rank and Jacobson, 16/18 nurses disobyed the orders given to them by a doctor
Most of the nurses remained autonomous and didn't obey like the explantation suggests
Shows that the agentic state can only be used as an explanation in some situations |
| A weakness of agentic state? | Doesn't act as an alibi for real world destruction
Mandell found the ww2 German solders shot civilians in Poland without being asked
Acting in autonomous state, control of their own actions and weren't acting as an agent
Agentic state doesn't explain all evil behaviour that happens in the world |
