obedience situational explanations: agentic state Flashcards

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1
Q

define agentic state

A

a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour because we believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure

this frees us from the demands of our consciences and allows us to obey a destructive authority figure

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2
Q

define autonomous state

A

free to behave according to own principles and feel a sense of responsibility for actions

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3
Q

explain agentic shift and why it occurs

A

the shift from autonomy to agency

this occurs when a person perceives someone else an authority figure so they follow the instructions

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4
Q

define binding factors

A

aspects of the situation that allow a person to ignore or minimise the effects of their behaviour and therefore reduce the moral strain that they are feeling

milgram suggests people often shift the responsibility to the victim or denying the damage that they were causing

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5
Q

what is the research support for agentic state

A

Milgram

most of the participants resisted the shock and asked the experimenter questions about the procedure

for example: who is responsible if Mr Wallace is harmed?

when the experimenter replied “I’m responsible”
participants often carried on with no objections

this suggests when people were told they weren’t responsible they were happy to act as the experimenters agent

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