Explanations for obedience

Question 1

What are the two explanations for obedience?

Answer 1

• Legitimacy of authority
• Agentic state

Question 2

How was proximity investigated in Milgram’s study and what was the outcome?

Answer 2

• The teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto a plate, dropping the conformity rate to 30%
• Experimenter gave instructions over the telephone, dropping conformity rate to 20.5%

Question 3

How was location investigated in Milgram’s study and what was the outcome?

Answer 3

The location was switched to a run down office, dropping conformity rate to 47.5%

Question 4

How was uniform investigated in Milgram’s study and what was the outcome?

Answer 4

The experimenter wore normal clothes, dropping conformity rate to 20%

Question 5

What is agentic state?

Answer 5

When someone works as an agent for someone else, and sees themselves as not responsible for their actions

Question 6

What are the stages of entering agentic state?

Answer 6

• The person begins in an autonomous state where they are independently acting
• They shift responsibility onto someone else through ‘agentic shfit’
• The person is then in agentic state

Question 7

What are binding factors?

Answer 7

Things that stop someone trying to leave the experiment, such as not wanting to appear rude or arrogant to someone in power