obedience + milgram’s agency theory

Define obedience ?

a form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order, usually from an authority figure

What does milgram’s agency theory suggest ?

it suggests that we are more likely to obey orders when we enter an “agentic state”

What is meant by an autonomous state ?

we feel as if we are responsible for our own actions with the freedom to choose how we may behave

What is meant by an agentic state ?

when we believe we are acting on the behalf of an authority figure so we are therefore no longer accountable for our own actions

What is meant by agentic shift ?

if a person has greater power, others will turn to them to obey their orders

Give one evaluation point for this study ?

point - there is supporting evidence for this theory

explanation - in an experiment carried out by milgram he found 65% of participants were prepared to do smth that would’ve potentially led to another person’s death just because sm1 they believed to be an authoritative figure told them to

link - therefore, this increases the validity cause participants were willing to continue harming another person if the authority figure took responsibility, this shows that participants are in the agentic state

Give another evaluation point for this study ?

point - there is a diff theory to why ppl obey other than milgram’s theory

explanation - not every1 blindly follows orders, which suggest that some ppl are less likely to enter the agentic state than others, his theory focuses on social factors that affect obedience but other psychologists have argued that dispositional factors such as personality are more important in determining how obedience sm1 will be

link - therefore, this reduces validity as it doesn’t explain why some people don’t obey orders it suggest that another explanation might be better

Give a 3rd evaluation point for this study ?

point - a weakness is it doesn’t explain why there isn’t 100% obedience

explanation - although 65% did follow orders in milgram’s study his theory does not explain why 35% didn’t fully follow the orders that they were given

link - so this means that social factors cannot fully explain obedience