an agentic state occurs when we act on behalf of another person
Milgram proposed obedience to destructive authority occurs because a person becomes an agent. person feels no personal responsibility for their actions.
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the opposite of an agentic state is an autonomous state
autonomy means to be independent or free. a person behaves according to their own priniciples and feels responsible for their own actions.
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agentic shift occurs when a person defers to the authority figure
milgram suggested that this occurs when we perceive someone else as a authority figure. this person has power because their position in a social hierarchy.
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binding factors reduce the moral strain of obeying immoral orders.
aspects of a situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the moral strain they feel. number of strategies the individual uses. such as shifting responsibility to the victim.
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we obey people at the top of a social hierarchy.
most societies are structured hierarchically. people in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us.
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authorities have legitimacy through society's agreement.
the authority they weild is legitimate in the snese that it is agreed by society. most of us accept that authority figures should exercise social power over others because this allows society to function smoothly.
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we hand control of our behaviour over to authority figures due to trust and through upbringing.
some people are granted th power to punish others. give up some of our independence to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately. we learned to accept authority during childhood from parents and teachers.
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charismatic leaders use their legitimate powers for destructive purposes.
history has too often shown that leaders use legitimate authority destructively. ordering people to behave in callous, cruel, dangerous and stupid ways.
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strength 1- agentic state- has research support
Blass and Schmidt (2001) showed students a film of Milgram's stuy and asked them to identify who was responsible for harm to the learner. students blamed the experimenter, due to legitimate authority but also expert authority.
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limitation 1- agentic state- cannot account for the Nazis behaviour
Mandel (1998) described German Reserve Police Battalion 101. they did this even though they were not directly ordered to. this challenges the agentic state explanation because they were not powerless to disobey.
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strength 1- legitimacy of authority- can explain real-life obedience
Kelman and Hamilton (1989) suggest the My Lai Massacre is explained by the power of hierarchy. the army haas authority recognised by the law. assume orders given by the hierarchy to be legal. give reasons why destructive obedience is committed.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
autonomy means to be independent or free. a person behaves according to their own priniciples and feels responsible for their own actions.
Back
the opposite of an agentic state is an autonomous state
Card 3
Front
milgram suggested that this occurs when we perceive someone else as a authority figure. this person has power because their position in a social hierarchy.
Back
Card 4
Front
aspects of a situation that allow the person to ignore or minimise the damaging effect of their behaviour and reduce the moral strain they feel. number of strategies the individual uses. such as shifting responsibility to the victim.
Back
Card 5
Front
most societies are structured hierarchically. people in certain positions hold authority over the rest of us.
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