Obedience and the agentic state (background substance)
Obedience to legitimate authority; the agentic state shifts responsibility away from the self; situational vs dispositional.
Understanding the theory behind Milgram lets you explain the study, not just recount it.
Obedience = following a direct order from a perceived authority figure. It differs from conformity (matching a group's behaviour without an order).
The historical question. After the Holocaust, people asked how ordinary people could carry out atrocities. One dispositional answer was that 'Germans are different' — that they have an obedient personality. Milgram wanted to test whether obedience was really a feature of the person (dispositional) or of the situation (situational).
The agentic state (Milgram's explanation). Milgram argued people operate in two states:
- The autonomous state — you act on your own conscience and feel responsible for your actions.
- The agentic state — you see yourself as an agent carrying out the wishes of an authority, so you feel the authority is responsible, not you. Shifting into the agentic state allows people to obey orders that conflict with their conscience.
Legitimate authority. We are socialised to obey people who hold legitimate authority (e.g. a scientist, a police officer). The Yale setting and the experimenter's grey lab coat gave the study legitimacy, increasing obedience.
Why this matters. Milgram's startling result (most people obeyed) supports a situational explanation: place ordinary people in the right situation, under a legitimate authority, and obedience follows — you don't need a special 'obedient personality'.
- Obedience = following an order from an authority (≠conformity to a group).
- Dispositional 'Germans are different' hypothesis vs situational explanation.
- Autonomous state (own conscience) → agentic state (agent of authority, feels less responsible).
- Legitimate authority (Yale, lab coat) increases obedience.
- Result supports a SITUATIONAL explanation of obedience.