Agency Theory

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

It’s a form of social influence e.g when a person obeys instructions from someone else, usually a perceived authority figure

Question 2

What is an autonomous state?

Answer 2

People see their actions as voluntary and in which the conscience is fully operative

Question 3

What is an agentic state?

Answer 3

People see themselves as agents of others and in which individual conscience does not operate. People switch into an agentic state in response to instructions from a legitimate authority figure

Question 4

Explain what is meant by moral strain?

Answer 4

Doing something which is against our own principles but you obey and therefore you give responsibility for your actions to a legitimate authority figure to reduce the impact of moral strain

Question 5

Give a paragraph about evidence for agency theory

Answer 5

Milgram
Baseline 
Shifting from autonomous to agentic 
Moral strain 
Criticism of milgrams study real life setting 
May not be credible 
Holfling field study 
Shows that people shift to an agentic state 
Stands the test of time e.g burger

Question 6

What are the applications of agency theory

Answer 6

Holocaust

Question 7

What are the strengths and shortcoming of agency theory

Answer 7

Ignores individual differences
Difficult to measure due to some hypothetical elements such as moral strain
E.g the development of hierarchies and obedience to authority figures indicates that there are evolutionary mechanisms behind obedience (nature)