Evaluating situational explanations of obedience - Agentic state - Advantages and disadvantages table in A Level and IB Psychology

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Created by: maddieecarr
Created on: 13-06-21 10:29

Evaluating situational explanations of obedience - Agentic state

Advantages

Research support - Milgram’s studies support the agentic state. Participants were told that the experimenter would take the blame for any harm suffered by the participants, and would continue with the experiment. Shows that once an individual is relieved of responsibility of consequence, they are more likely to obey.

Disadvantages

Limited explanation - Agentic state does not explain some findings of studies. Rank and Jacobsen’s study which asked nurses to give an excessive dose of a drug to patients. 16/18 disobeyed this order, which came from an authority figure (a known doctor). The Agentic shift does not explain why, in some cases, participants remain autonomous and do not obey.

Evaluation

The Agentic state has a strength and limitation. Overall I believe Agentic state is a good explanation for obedience IN SOME SITUATIONS as Milgram’s research gave clear evidence of its existence, but it is challenged by Rank and Jacobsen.

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