Agency Theory Flashcards
What is moral strain?
A negative feeling caused by doing something we believe to be morally wrong but feel compelled to do because of the social situation.
What is agency theory?
Milgram’s theory to explain the obedience demonstrated by many of his participants.
What does agency theory try to explain?
Try’s to explain why people obey authority figures because of social pressure.
When does the agentic state occur?
When people act as if they were an agent of authority and what they do is not their choice but their duty. Don’t take responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
When does the autonomous state occur?
When people act as if free to make their own choice; they have free will and control their own actions. They take responsibility for what they do.
What determines what state a person is in?
Situation determines what state we are in.
How must the authority figure be seen for us to enter the agentic state?
The authority figure must be seen as legitimate for them to enter the agentic state.
Where does the agentic state originate?
The agentic state originates in the socialisation process whereby obedience becomes associated with rewards in infancy and is further enforced in school leading to unquestioning obedience in adulthood.
What value can obedience be seen as having?
Obedience can be seen as having a survival value and that natural selection favors those creatures who fit into the social hierarchy.
What are the strengths/supporting evidence of agency theory?
Milgram obedience studies
Useful applications (Mai Lai, Eichmann, Abu Ghraib)
Useful application (training in organisations)
What are the weaknesses/refuting evidence of agency theory?
Manipulation of others
Authoritarian personality (refuting evidence)
Removes personal responsibility
Why is there supporting evidence from Milgrams obedience studies for agency theory?
Milgram’s own research found that when ordinary people were put in a high pressure situation with an authority figure they would obey orders to shock another person and two thirds would continue to obey orders right up to the end of the study
Why is there supporting evidence from Mai Lai of agency theory?
Agency theory successful explains horrendous acts such as the Mai Lai massacre where US troops massacred a village in Vietnam because they had orders to ‘clear the area’
Why is there supporting evidence from Eichmann of agency theory?
Agency theory can be usefully applied to explain the actions of war criminals who claim they were ‘only following orders’ such as Adolf Eichmann
Why is there supporting evidence from Abu Ghraib of agency theory?
Agency theory can explain the behaviour of the prison guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq when they tortured and humiliated prisoners of war
