theories about obedience - agency theory and social impact theory

agency theory was created by who in what year

milgram 1974

what are the two states in agency theory

autonomous state and the agentic state

what is meant by the autonomous state

people freely choose their own behaviour that aligns with their moral code as they believe they have power and control over their own actions

what is meant by the agentic state

people give up their free will and act as an agent for someone else who is directing their behaviour, therefore they assume someone else is in control and are responsible for the consequences, this may lead them to go against their own moral code and experience moral strain

what is the definition of dissenting

choosing not to obey

what is the definition of displacement of responsibility

displacing responsibility onto an authority figure by shifting into the agentic state in order to reduce moral strain

how does milgram explain the existence of the agentic state

developed through evolution as a survival strategy as following leaders rather than acting independently increased the chance of survival in a threatening situation

what is meant by moral strain

the stress/anxiety people feel when told to/behave in a way that goes against their own moral values

what were sources of moral strain for participants in milgrams study (4)

participants heard the cries of the victim, may have feared retaliation from the victim, had to go against their own moral values, there was a conflict between the needs of the victim and the needs of the authority figure

what are examples in evidence for agency theory (3)

milgrams study provides evidence - supported the concept of moral strain as participants showed evidence of distress, evidence for the concept of displacement of responsibility as in the debriefing some participants reported their behaviour was the responsibility of the experimenter, theory supported by other research - hofling et al (1966)

describe hofling et al

1966 - showed how nurses would follow doctors order to give a patient twice the daily dosage of a drug

what are weaknesses of agency theory (2)

the theory lacks direct evidence - internal process so can’t be directly observed, the theory is more of a description than an explanation

what were strengths in the methodology of agency theory (3)

milgrams study uses standardised procedures which can be replicated in different circumstances, manipulate IV allows us to infer cause and effect which increases scientific credibility as it explains the different levels of obedience in the variation of milgrams og study

what were weaknesses of the methodology of agency theory

methods used in milgrams study lacked mundane realism so it lacks ecological validity and isn’t generalisable to life outside the laboratory

what were strengths in the applications of agency theory (3)

it explains real life events - US army during vietnam war and nazi germany, studies from different cultures support the theory - meeus and raajmaker, theories can be applied to real life

describe meeus and raajmakers studies

dutch participants would harras a job applicant because they were told to as a part of research study

what were negative applications of agency theory

theory doesn’t explain individual differences

what are alternative theories of agency theory

social impact theory and french and raven

describe french and ravens theory

as agency theory doesn’t explain the motivational issues behind obedience, french and ravens (1990) theory identified five bases of power - legitimate, reward, referent, expert and coercive power, which are said to motivate and influence behaviour

social impact theory was created by who in what year

bibb latane - 1981

what are the three factors that influence the likelihood a person will respond to social influence

strength - status, authority or age of source , immediacy - distance in space and time between source and target, number - how many sources and targets

what is a target

the person being impacted on

what is a source

the person doing the influencing

what is meant by multiplication of impact

the multiplicative effect of strength, immediacy and number on social impact (obedience) up to a point

what is meant by division of impact

the effect of number of targets (group of allies) on the sources ability to influence - weaker social influence

what is the equation of social impact theory

i = f(SIN) which means the magnitude of impact = function (strength x immediacy x number of sources)

what is evidence for social impact theory (3)

theory is supported by research - milgrams variation 7 and variation where the presence of two dissenting peers lowered obedience to10% , sedikides and jackson

describe sedikides and jackson

1990 - found people tended to obey uniformed zookeeper compared to a casually dressed zookeeper when told not to lean on railings

what are weaknesses of social impact theory (2)

theory ignore individual differences and why people are influenced as it just sates what conditions people are more likely to be influenced

what are strengths of the methodology of social impact theory (2)

both laboratory and field experiments increases scientific credibility as the standardised procedures allow us to infer cause and effect in laboratory experiments and in field experiments ecological validity is high so it generalisable

what are weaknesses of the methodology of social impact theory

attempting to analyse very complex behaviours (obedience) using a mathematical formula can be reductionist

what are strength applications of social impact theory (2)

as it uses a mathematical formula it can predict how people will behave under certain conditions, the theory is reliable as if the same measurements are put into the formula the same predictions emerge

what are weaknesses in application of social impact theory (2)

the theory doesn’t take into account how the source and target interact with each other and ignores what the target brings to the situation, theory is limited in the type of social situation it is able to explain for example it can’t predict what will happen when two equal groups impact one another