Agency Theory Flashcards
Who was the agency theory proposed by and why?
By Milgram to explain how people respond to authority
What is the autonomous state?
A state where we feel our behaviour is self directed and chosen. Where you can choose how you want to behave.
What is the agentic shift?
When a person encounters a legitimate authority figure, they may undergo agentic shift.
What is the agentic state?
The person acts on the authority figure behalf, not taking responsibility for their actions. Thinking the responsibility lies with the authority figure.
What is moral strain?
If the person’s beliefs conflict with their behaviour, they will feel discomfort or anxiety. This is known as moral strain. If the moral strain is too high, they might defy the authority figures
What are binding factors?
Factors that lead the person to listen to the authority figure.
If the Binding Factors (such as proximity and appearance of authority) are greater than the Moral Strain, the person would keep listening
What is a strength of Agency theory?
There is evidence to demonstrate that individuals do experience an agentic shift in real-life.
Hofling et al (1966) conducted a study where a doctor telephoned nurses working on a ward late at night, asking them to administer an overdose of a drug to a patient. 21 of 22 nurses complied with the doctor’s orders. They justified their behaviour due to a need to follow the hierarchy of authority in a hospital.
This supports agency theory as the nurses underwent agentic shift and followed the doctor’s orders in the agentic state. They displaced their personal responsibility for this action onto their superior, just as the theory states.
What is a weakness of Agency theory?
However, Agency theory cannot explain individual differences as to why some people obey and some do not.
For example, 35% of the participants in Milgram’s original study did not give all of the electric shocks despite being instructed to by the experimenter (legitimate authority figure).
This is a weakness as it shows that disobedience / dissent can occur for many reasons which are not accounted for by Agency Theory such as personality type, gender and situation. Therefore, this theory is not a complete explanation for human obedience.
