12 Questions
What type of power is based on an individual's socially sanctioned claim to a position or role?
Legitimate Power
What is the term for a psychological state that occurs when subordinates in an organized status hierarchy experience a marked reduction in autonomy?
Agentic State
According to Weber's concept of charisma, which two types of power do leaders exert their influence by relying on?
Legitimate Power and Referent Power
Who empirically confirmed that Milgram's experimenter derived power from all six bases?
Blass
What type of power is based on an individual's superior knowledge, skills, and abilities?
Expert Power
What type of power is based on the potential use of informational resources, including rational argument, persuasion, or explanation?
Informational Power
What is the primary focus of social power in a group?
Differences in members' capacity to influence one another
In Milgram's study, what percentage of participants obeyed the authority's orders fully?
65%
What was the purpose of Milgram's experiment?
To examine the role of authority in hierarchically organized groups
According to French and Raven's Theory of Power Bases, what is the source of power based on the ability to punish or threaten others?
Coercive Power
What type of groups did Milgram's study suggest obedience is common in?
Hierarchically organized groups
What was the criticism of Milgram's study?
Methodological flaws and participant characteristics
Study Notes
Types of Power
- Legitimate Power: based on an individual's socially sanctioned claim to a position or role that includes the right to require and demand compliance with their directives
- Referent Power: derived from social relationships between individuals, including identification with, attraction to, or respect for another person or group
- Expert Power: based on the belief that an individual possesses superior knowledge, skills, and abilities
- Informational Power: based on the potential use of informational resources, including rational argument, persuasion, or explanation
The Agentic State and Charisma
- Agentic State: a psychological state that occurs when subordinates in an organized status hierarchy experience such a marked reduction in autonomy that they are unable to resist authorities' orders (proposed by Stanley Milgram)
- Charisma: a concept suggested by Weber (1956/1978) that certain leaders exert their influence by relying on legitimate power and referent power
Milgram's Experiment
- Participants were tested on their obedience to an authority who ordered them to give painful and potentially harmful electric shock to a confederate
- A majority (65%) obeyed fully; those who did not often stopped when the learner retracted his consent to participate (at 150 V)
- Obedience varied as Milgram manipulated aspects of the setting, including the harm, proximity, research location, surveillance, legitimacy, and groups
Sources of Power in Groups
- French and Raven's (1959) Theory of Power Bases
- Reward Power: based on control over the distribution of rewards (both personal and impersonal) given or offered to group members
- Coercive Power: based on the ability to punish or threaten others who do not comply with requests or demands
Explore the limits of an authority's power and how social power affects group dynamics. Learn about Milgram's obedience experiment and its implications.
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