obbedience: situational explainations(legitimacy of authority)

Question 1

define legitimate authority

Answer 1

an explanation of obedience that states we are more likely to obey if we perceive a person to have power over us

Question 2

explain how people come to have legitimate authority

Answer 2

the authority is legitimate as it is widely agreed by society

authority figures are visible symbols of power and status so are hard to disobey

these exercise power over us as this allows society to function smoothly

but the consequence of legitimate authority is people have the power to punish others

we are willing to give up some independence and control of our behaviour to people we trust to exercise their authority appropriately

we learn from a young age the acceptance of legitimate authority
(due to most societies being structured in a hierarchal way)

Question 3

how was destructive authority used in Milgram’s experiment

Answer 3

by the experimenter to get participants to behave in a way that goes against their conscience

Question 4

what is the evaluation point for the real world application of the legitimacy of authority explanation

Answer 4

Kelman and Hamilton (1989) revisit the My Lai Massacre in 1969 and explain how the terrible events can be understood in terms of the power of hierarchy in the US Army.

Lieutenant William Calley ordered his men to shoot the villagers whom he suspected of being enemy sympathisers.

One American soldier when asked why he did it said ‘Because I felt like I was ordered to do it, and it seemed like I was doing the right thing.’