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| Question | Answer |
| What does the theory suggest? | When pps are giving shocks, they are an agent of the person in charge. They are a cog. |
| Moral Strain | When people are uncomfortable with their behaviour as it goes against their own moral code, yet thy cannot disobey. |
| Agentic State | Doing as you're told and not thinking for yourself (not in control of your conscience) -This is a coping mechanism which allows you to avoid conflict and confrontation. |
| Automunus State | Reached when the pps took control and decided to stop the experiment based on their own judgement of the situation. |
| Evolution Theory | Natural Selection: genetically passed on traits such as : Avoiding aggression to aid survival (avoids getting hurt) Leaders and followers: Social groups would not otherwise work, obedience of some is necessary |
| Social Theory | People have learned the Agentic state. -from a young age, have to obey parents -in schools, have to obey teachers -we learn that there is a hierarchy and apply these actions to other areas of life ( e.g. When ordered to stop in Milgram's variation study, 100% did: obeyed until they could stop) |
| Strengths | -Supported by Milgram's studies -Explains the varying level of obedience in variation studies -explains the holocaust/My Lai massacre -Other obedience experiments (Hoffling) support it -can be used with scientific context (evolution) |
| Weaknesses | -No physical evidence that it exists (no brain scans to show someone in the state) -Doesn't explain why some pps were able to move out of the Agentic state -quite vague (cognitive/physiological features are not clear) -social power theory opposes Agentic state |
| Social Power theory | -Reward power: power of people with resources -Legitimate power: held by people with authority -Coercive power: held by people who can punish (Milgram could shock them) -Expert power: held by those with knowledge (Milgram was a researcher) -Referent power: held by those who can win people over |
| My Lai Massacre 1968 | -Mass murder of 504 unarmed villagers in south Vietnam by unit of the US army. -were given orders to exterminate Vietcong hiding in the village. -were told that all the villagers had gone to market so everyone left was Vietcong. -30/100 soldiers killed, raped, mutilated the women, men and children, houses burned, livestock killed, bombs used. -only LT.Calley was charged for premeditated murder of 22 civillians(received only 4.5 months). |
| Reasons For the My Lai Massacre | -Obedience: "I was just following orders" soldiers were in an Agentic state -Deinviduation: part of a large group, were killing as a group so did not perceive it to be bad. Social Identity Theory: identified as soldiers, had been trained to kill instinctively, the out-group (villagers) "weren't seen as humans" |
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