1.1.1 - Theories - Agency and Social Impact

Question 1

Describe Agency Theory (A01x6)

Answer 1

Milgram suggests that in a social situation we can act in the agentic state where an individual surrenders personal judgement and conscience to act on behalf of another in a position of authority. Alternatively, we can be in the autonomous state where we use our own free will and take responsibility for our actions. Milgram suggested that we can experience moral strain, an unpleasant feeling of distress and discomfort caused from pressure to obey orders to commit actions going against our moral code. Actions can also lead to blind/destructive obedience when in the Agentic state we follow orders that can cause harm to others. Milgram suggests we are socialised into an agentic state from a young age to obey an authority figure. This prevents conflict and enables the smooth running of society, avoiding chaos and destruction on a mass scale stopping events like the Holocaust.

Question 2

Evaluate Agency Theory (A03x2)

Strengths

Answer 2

Agency theory is supported by burgers study. 70% of participants obey the orders to shock to 150 V. Therefore showing that they were in the agentic state by following the orders of the authority figure to shock the learner.

Agency theory is supported by Milgram study. Participants showed signs of extreme psychological harm such as seizures, trembling and sweaty. Therefore this shows that the participants experienced moral strain while following Mr Williams’s orders as their actions caused distress, going against their moral code.

Question 3

Evaluate Agency Theory (A03x2)

Weaknesses

Answer 3

However the supporting studies can be criticised because both milligram and burgers studies lacked task/ecological validity. The task of shocking another participant to 450 V in a lab at university was not normal behaviour for the participants. Therefore we cannot be sure that the participants would obey orders in the Agentic state in every day life and with familiar tasks.

However there are individual differences. For example in one of Milgram study is a participant was an electrician and he refused to give Mr Wallace high-level shocks. Therefore showing that factors such as experience affect the extent to which someone can be in the agentic state

Question 4

Describe Social Impact Theory (AO1x6)

Answer 4

Latane suggest that the strength of the source is important; the more important the source are to the target, the more influence they will have. For example, Milgram study had referent power as the source, Mr Williams was stern in a lab coat and worked in the very prestigious Yale university.

Latane also suggests that the immediacy of the source is important and how recent the event occurred and whether there were other intervening factors. For example and telephonic instructions it demonstrated how if the authority gave orders in close proximity the participants were more likely to obey.

Finally Latane suggests that the relative number of people giving orders to those receiving is important; the rate of obedience grows less as each new individual is added. For example it can be supported by a classroom scenario where a larger class will be less likely to obey the single teacher.

Question 5

Evaluate SIT (AO3x2)

strengths

Answer 5

Social impact theory is supported by Milgram study. Participants were introduced to Mr Williams, believed to be an experimenter for a prestigious Yale university who wore a grey lab coat and was very stern. Therefore showing the strength of the source was important because 65% of participants followed the authorities orders to shock the learner

The theory is also supported by milligrams variation study, experiment 7. After giving initial instructions to the teacher face-to-face the experimental left and continued the orders on the phone and obedience levels dropped to 22.5%. Therefore showing immediacy is important because participants deceived the experimenter by pretending to continue to experiment when the authority wasn’t in close proximity.

Question 6

Evaluate SIT (AO3x2)

weaknesses

Answer 6

However the supporting studies can be criticised as Milgrams baseline and experiment 7 lacked ecological and task validity. The task of shocking another participant in a lab at university was not normal behaviour for the participants. Therefore we cannot be sure that the participants will obey orders willingly from strong authority in every day life and the task that they are familiar with.

However there are also individual differences. For example in one of Milgram study is a participant was an electrician and refused to give Mr Wallace high level shocks. Therefore showing factors such as experience affect the extent to which someone can obey orders just because of the strength of the source.