Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority
- Created by: Thunder1107
- Created on: 23-04-18 14:59
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- Agentic State and Legitimacy of Authority
- Legitimacy of Authority
- A P who is perceived to be in a position of social control
- The authority is responsible for the actions + they define the actions that occur
- If commands are seen to be harmful then they must come from an institution e.g. military or uni
- However, in Milgram's study the experiment took place in a run down building + PPL were obedient
- A place may not have to be an institution but be run by an instuitution
- Agentic State
- A P sees themself as an agent for carrying out another P's wishes
- These PPL feel less responsibility for their actions + are more likely to carry on
- Self-image: when an action isn't their responsibility it doesn't reflect on their self-image
- Factors: The Ps would have to break off the experiments which would be rude so they feel a need to carry on
- Following Orders
- Lt William Calley ordered the murder of civilians in Vietnam
- The men carried out the orders and killed over 500 villagers
- Another example is the Holocaust
- Milgram believed that the agentic shift happened + the blame was passed along
- Calley did not accept responsibility for his actions + said that he was following the orders of his Captain
- Evaluation
- Real-life obedience: Undoubting obedience to authority that is harmful can be seen in military training
- Just cruel: In the SPE guards did not have a specific authority telling them what to do
- Loss of personal control: more obedience + bystander apathy can link to a loss of personal control
- Real-life obedience: Lifton studied German doctors in Auschwitz who went from doctors to PPL who carried out horrific experiments
- Obedience in the cockpit: In 19 of 37 plane accidents the co-pilot said nothing when the pilots actions looked risky
- Legitimacy of Authority
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