Agency theory Flashcards
What is obedience?
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming. There is usually the assumption that the person receiving the order is made to respond in a way they would not otherwise have done.
What is the autonomous state?
A mindset where we behave independently, make our own decisions about how to behave and take responsibility for the consequences of our actions
What is agentic state?
A mindset which allows us to carry out orders from an authority figure, even if they conflict our personal sense of right and wrong. We absolve ourselves of responsibility, believing that as we acting on someone else behalf, blame for any negative consequences lies with them.
What is the agentic shift?
The switch between the autonomous and agentic state that occurs when we perceive someone to be a legitimate source of authority and allow them to control our behaviour.
What is moral strain?
A state of mental discomfort or anxiety experienced in the agentic state when a person’s actions conflict with their personal morality
What evidence supports The Agency Theory?
Milgram’s study.
In this study he found that 100% of ppts would adminster a shock of 300v to a confederate as a punishment for making a mistake on a word learning task and 65% would go right up to the final 450v beyond the shock labelled “danger extreme shock”
What did Gina Perry say about the validity of Milgram’s study?
She questioned the internal validity of this evidence saying that ppts saw through deception. Many ppts questioned whether the shocks were real. 60% disobeyed the experimenter. This questions the agency theory
What study proves theat agentic shift is not inevitable?
Rank and Jocobson’s study where nurses found that 16/18 (89%) nurses failed to obey orders from a doctor who asked them to adminster an overdoes of the drug Valium.
How does the agentic shift apply to the military?
The use of euphemisms such as “collateral damage” (unintentional deaths of civilians in pursuit of a legitimate military target) and dehumanising language used to refer to the enemy.
This shows how an authority figure’s communication can minimise moral strain so soldier remain in agentic state
