explanations of obediance Flashcards
who was agency theory developed by?
stanley Milgram
what is an autonomous state?
a state where a person is free thinking and able to make their own decisions
what is an agentic state ?
a state where a person is an ‘agent’ of someone else’s will and will follow their orders . Responsibility for our actions is passed onto this person
give examples of agency theory is real life?
soldiers following orders to commit atrocities during war
individualls participating in cults and blindly following the leader
individuals obeying the commands of an abusive partner or authority figure
explain moral strain ?
agents experience this , where they realise what they are doing is wrong but feel powerless to disobey
why might people adopt an agentic state ?
the need to maintain a positive self image , action is no longer their responsibility so no longer reflects on their self image
explain binding factors ?
people don’t want to deal with the hassle of overcoming the situation .In Milgram’s study the participant must breach the commitment made to the experimenter to end the experiment .They also don’t want to appear as rude so the participant remains binded into obedience
how can the agentic state be prevented ?
encourage critical thinking and questioning of authority
promote a sense of personal responsibility and accountability,so individuals are more likely to question commands that go against their values
what did milgram say about children and a agentic state?
they were conditioned in a agentic state from a young age (e.g. from being encouraged to obey teachers and parents without question)
who came up with legitimacy of authority ?
stanley milgram
what is legitimacy of authority ?
the perceived right of an authority figure to have power and control over others
what is the first condition for a person to shift into an agentic state ?
the perception of a legitimate authority
explain definition of a situation ?
people tend to accept definitions of a situation that are provided by a legitimate authority .E.g. in Milligrams study the participents perfom the action of shocking Mr wallace but let the authority figure define it’s meaning
what does a legitimate authority figure require if the commands are of a potentially harmful or destructive form ?
must occur in a institutional structure
define authoritarian personality ?
a person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient to those who have power over them .absolute submission to an authority figure .
define dispositional factor ?
explanation for behaviour that focused on a persons individual personality (internal).
who invented the idea of an authoritarian personality and when ?
Adorno et al (1950)
how is an authoritarian personality measured?
the F scale (F for fascism )
what is the F scale
a scale to measure how strongly people express authoritarian traits
when did research for the F scale begin ?
shortly after world war 2
what was Adorno et al team tryna figure out ?
if their are charactaristics of individuals which could make explain the persecution of jews and other minority groups by the NAzis in the 1930’s and 40’s
how was the F scale questions set up ?
numbered scale 1-6 (1 being strongly disagree and 6 being strongly agree )
give three examples of questions on the F scale?
“Nobody ever learned anything really important except through suffering “
“The businesses man and manufacture are much more important to society than the artist and the professor “
“homosexuals are hardly better than criminals and ought to be severely punished “
what kind of explanation is the origins of the authoritarian personality ?
psychodynamic explanation which forms in childhood
