agency theory of obedience Flashcards
why did Stanley Milgram investigate obedience?
- Milgram wanted to explain the atrocities committed by the Nazis and investigate obedience
what did historians believe about Nazi soldiers’ obedience?
- historians believed Nazi soldiers had a character flaw that made them more obedient
what was Milgram’s view on Nazi soldiers’ obedience?
- Milgram did not believe Nazi soldiers had a character flaw
- he wanted to test if ‘normal’ people would obey authority
what did Milgram’s experiment involve?
- Milgram used healthy participants to administer electric shocks to an innocent confederate to test obedience
what did Milgram conclude from his research?
- Milgram concluded that everyone is capable of extreme obedience, even if it involves hurting someone, which likely serves an evolutionary or societal function
what is the nature of human society?
- human society is hierarchical, with many people at the bottom and a few at the top
why did hierarchical societies survive?
- hierarchical societies evolved for survival
- those with a hierarchy survived, while others died out
what function does a hierarchy serve in society?
- a hierarchy creates social order and harmony, stabilising society
why is obedience necessary in society?
- obedience maintains social order
- without it, society would face chaos and breakdown
what happens if people see themselves as individuals in a social situation?
- if people see themselves as individuals, they will act autonomously, avoiding aggression in threatening situations
what does Evolution Theory suggest about avoiding aggression?
- Evolution Theory suggests that avoiding aggression aids survival and is a good survival strategy
what is the basis of Evolution Theory?
- Evolution Theory, based on natural selection, states that tendencies that aid survival are passed on through genes
how are we prepared to be obedient?
- we are innately prepared to be obedient, as exposure to authority figures teaches this behavior
what is socialisation?
- socialisation is the process of learning society’s rules and norms through agents like teachers and parents
what is an autonomous state?
- in an autonomous state, individuals see themselves as having power and control over their actions
what do individuals in an autonomous state believe about their actions?
- they believe their actions are voluntary and they have free will to make their own decisions
what happens when someone moves from an autonomous state to an agentic state?
- they may receive an instruction from an authority figure, leading them to shift into an agentic state
what is an agentic state?
- in an agentic state, individuals act as agents for others, typically in authority
what happens to an individual’s conscience in an agentic state?
- their conscience is not in control
- they lose the ability to make decisions independently
what happens to free will in an agentic state?
- individuals lose free will and no longer make their own decisions
what is moral strain?
- moral strain occurs when people are asked to do something they feel is immoral or unjust
how does moral strain affect individuals?
- it makes individuals feel uncomfortable, anxious, and distressed in the situation
why do individuals experience anxiety in moral strain?
- anxiety arises as they contemplate dissent and consider acting against what they’ve been socialised to do
why do individuals shift to an agentic state?
- to alleviate moral strain, individuals shift to an agentic state, displacing responsibility onto the authority figure
what does shifting to an agentic state do for an individual?
- it absolves the individual from the consequences of their actions by shifting responsibility to the authority figure
what can disobedience to authority figures produce?
- disobedience can produce relief once the individual has removed themselves from the situation
what is the agentic shift?
- the agentic shift is the change from the autonomous state to the agentic state when confronted with a legitimate authority figure
how do we judge others in the agentic shift process?
- we quickly judge if others are higher or lower than us in the social hierarchy and whether they have legitimate authority
supporting evidence: M
Milgram
- first obedience experiment
- 65% of ppts obeyed an authority figure and potentially harmed an innocent confederate
- evidence for agency theory: ppts showed moral strain (anxiety) when given the order to harm
- many participants believed the responsibility for their actions lay with the experimenter, not themselves
- this demonstrates displacement of responsibility
other things (strength): My Lai
- american soldiers were ordered to shoot the occupants of My Lai, suspected of being Vietcong soldiers
- lieutenant Calley instructed his division to enter the village and shoot, despite no return of fire
- the soldiers massacred old men, women and children after Calley’s orders
- in his court martial, Calley claimed he was just following orders
- justification has been cited in real-life cases of atrocities and offers support for agency theory involving displacement of responsibility
supporting evidence: H et al
Hofling et al
- a stooge doctor called a nurse late at night, instructing her to administer twice the daily dose of a drug to a patient
- the doctor told the nurse that he would sign the prescription later, violating hospital policy
- 21 out of 22 nurses followed the doctor’s orders and attempted to give the medication
- the nurses displaced personal responsibility onto the authority figure (the doctor), supporting agency theory
other things (weakness): individual differences
- agency theory does not explain individual differences in obedience and dissent
- dissent can occur due to various factors, such as personality type, gender, and situation
- this suggests that obedience is a more complex process than agency theory accounts for
other things (weakness): definition and measuring
- concepts of autonomy and agency are difficult to define and measure
- agency is a state of mind that, according to Milgram, is switched on when given an order by an authority figure
- agency is an internal mental process that cannot be directly measured, only inferred from the behaviour of the agent
other things (weakness): evolution + CA
- there is no direct evidence for the evolutionary basis of obedience
- we cannot study obedience directly in our evolutionary past or find archeological evidence for this behaviour
- however, similar hierarchical systems exist in animal groups, such as primates, with similar sanctions for obedience
- it can be inferred that obedience has evolved to serve some form of survival function for social groups
other things (weakness): F + R
- agency theory does not explain the motivational issues behind obedience
- French and Raven identified five bases of power that motivate and influence behaviour: legitimate power, reward power, referent power, expert power and coercive power
- these bases are said to provide a better explanation of obedience
- they offer a more comprehensive explanation for Milgram’s findings in his experiments
other things (weakness): P
- Perry questioned internal validity of Milgram’s study
- she argues that many ppts saw through the deception in the exp
- Perry reviewed released evidence from Yale University archives of Milgram’s study
- evidence suggests that many ppts questioned whether shocks were real
