Agency Theory (1973)

Question 1

when people behave on the behalf of an external authority

Answer 1

they’re said to be doing this in an agentic state

Question 2

people as as someones agent rather then

Answer 2

taking personal responsibility for their actions

Question 3

the opposite of agentic state is

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autonomously - not following orders

Question 4

Milgram’s agency theory stated that when

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we feel as if we’re acting out of the wishes of another person, we feel less responsible for our actions

Question 5

the effect of agency theory can be found in

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Milgram’s studies

Question 6

in Milgrams shock study, some participants were concerned for the welfare of the learner and

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asked who would take responsibility if the learner was harmed

Question 7

when the examiner took responibility

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the participants would usually continue

Question 8

this agentic state was also encouraged by

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the experiments set up

Question 9

the participants voluntarily entered a

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social contract

Question 10

people can start off acting in an autonomous way

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but then become obedient

Question 11

starting off as autonomous then becoming obedient is known as

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agentic shift

Question 12

in Milgram’s experiment

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the participants started out autonomous then became obedient during the experiment

Question 13

Milgram claimed there were some

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binding factors that kept his participants in an agentic state

Question 14

what were the factors that kept Milgram’s participants in an agentic state?

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reluctance to disrupt the experiment
the pressure of the surroundings
the insistence of the authority figure

Question 15

reluctance to disrupt the experiment

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the participants had already been payed so they may have felt obligated to continue

Question 16

the pressure of the surroundings

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because the experiment took place at Yale University, the examiner made it seem legitimate meaning his authority was legitimate

Question 17

the insistence of the authority figure

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if participants hesitated they were told that they had to continue the experiment

Question 18

before his studies, Milgram believed that people were

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autonomous and could choose to resist authority

Question 19

His agency theory shows Milgram’s findings changed his mind about

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much impact authority figures have

Question 20

there is a lot of

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experimental evidence to support agency theory

Question 21

participants often claimed they

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wouldn’t have gone as far themselves but they were just following orders

Question 22

sometimes people

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resist the pressure to obey authority

Question 23

people can sometimes resist authority if

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the situation isn’t right or because of individual differences

Question 24

agency theory doesn’t explain why some people are

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more likely to exhibit independent behavior