Factors that Make People Obey or Disobey Orders

Outline and evaluate one or more explanations of why people obey
There is a choice given to people, either to obey or to disobey orders give by others. Some psychologists have researched into why people obey, and what factors cause them to do so.
An autonomous state is where an individual or individuals are aware of the consequences of their actions and chose voluntarily to behave in a certain way. This can be changed however, and particularly shown in the study of Milgram’s obedience, into an agentic state. Many of his participants shown in the film and transcripts evidence asked the authority figure if they would be fully held responsible for administering the shocks, and had reservations when they thought they would get the ‘blame’. They continued to obey and carried on with the experiment when they were told the experimenter was responsible. However if he had said that they were personally responsible, it is likely the outcome of the experiment would have been different. The change the participants went through from the autonomous state to the agentic state, is the agentic shift. When Milgram’s participants were debriefed after the electric shock experiment, many reported that they knew it was wrong to give the dangerous electric shocks, but that they felt the experimenter was responsible and not them. Also, at the Nuremberg trials, many Nazi soldiers defended their actions by saying it was not their fault as they were just following orders. To reach the agentic state Milgram also believed that the person giving the orders is perceived by the participant as being qualified to direct other people’s behaviour. So that is if they seem legitimate, people are more likely to follow orders. In Milgram’s experiment, the authority figure was an experimenter dressed in a light grey laboratory coat. The coat was a symbol of legitimate power and experience, and could led participants to believe that the experimenter was a legitimate authority figure. This also means that they were more likely to believe that they would get the blame, and not the participant themselves. In the agentic state, people do not feel responsible for their actions, and if they know they do not have to face and deal with the consequences they will carry on and obey. They reassure themselves they are only doing what the ‘authority figure’ tells them to, and they just are carrying out orders for them so are not to blame. They feel that they have no power so they might as well act against their own moral code. This is clearly what happened in Milgram’s study as afterwards symptoms of moral strain, discomfort and stress were noted. Moral strain particularly arises when people become uncomfortable with their behaviour because they feel that it is wrong and it goes against their better values. Agentic state can also be seen in Holfing et al’s 1966 experiment with nurses. The 21 out of 21 nurses followed the orders from ‘Dr Smith’ in an agentic state as employees of the hospital carrying out orders for someone else, rather than the autonomous state they should have been in. this also links in well with the role of buffers as ‘Dr Smith’ was speaking on the telephone and was not present in the room with the nurses, and if they were the results may have been different.
In the Milgram experiment, the teacher and learner were in different rooms to one another, and so the teacher was buffered from seeing themselves inflicting pain on the learner. If the wall had not been there, the outcome may have been different because when you can see the consequences you are causing and the pain people are in because of your actions, many people would stop. This separation of the participant and learner created a ‘buffer zone’ and the willingness to obey was high as they could not see each other. When the participant could see the victim obedience dropped to 30%, making it easier to follow an order to harm someone who is hidden from you. As well as this when the authority figure in in a separate room to the participant, obedience rates dropped to just 20% and therefore it is harder to refuse to follow an order when the authority figure is in close contact. The environment the orders are given in also acts as a buffer. When Milgram moved his experiment from the university to an office building, obedience rates dropped to 48%. Orders are therefore more likely to be followed if given in an appropriate environment. These statistics back up the role of buffers, proving the difference in levels of obedience they have on participants.
People gradually commit to doing bad things and if they start small then it is easier to carry on and do something bad. In Milgram’s experiment for example, participants started by administering a 15 volt shock. The shock levels gradually increased and did not become dangerous or particularly painful until several shocks had been administered. However if the participants been asked to give the ‘learner’ just one large electric shock, it is less likely that they would have done so. As they had started small it was only a ‘little step’ to the next shock, and another ‘little step’ to the one after that. It is also possible to say that Nazi soldiers gradually committed to their crude way against the Jews, by moving from name calling, to minor violent attacks, more serious attacks, to murder and then mass extermination. By the time they realise just what they are doing, it is almost too late to stop. This technique of gradual commitment is even used on a day to day basis by sales men. “foot in the door technique” starts with small requests and gradually increases them so the customer find it harder to leave and will be more inclined to buy something from them.
There are many reasons why people tend to obey, either to do with their personality i.e. the way they were raised as a child, or the situation they are faced with. An authority figure also has a huge role to play in level of obedience by the participants and whether they trust they are legitimate. Agentic shifts moves the consequences away from the individual so they do not feel responsible, perhaps after being lead into obeying by gradual commitment.