Agency Theory of obedience (Milgram)

Question 1

What is the agentic state

Answer 1

is acting on half of another in a position of authority surrendering our free will

Question 2

What is the autonomous state

Answer 2

is using free will and taking responsibility for our own actions which are seen as voluntary

Question 3

What is blind destructive obedience

Answer 3

means when people are in the agentic state they blindly follow orders which can cause harm to others

Question 4

What is moral strain

Answer 4

is the unpleasant sensation resulting from pressure to obey orders to commit an immoral act

Question 5

What is socialisation

Answer 5

is when people are socialized into an agentic state from a young age. Eg. when parents reward children for obedience and punish them for defiance and continues by teachers at school to maintain order

Question 6

How does agentic state apply to real life?

Answer 6

The knowledge of Agency Theory could help to stop people being destructively obedient eg safeguards could be included in military training.

Agency theory has been used in court in defense of soldiers actions. Eg, a nazi responsible for the extermination of millions in WW1 saw himself as in the agentic state with the defense that he was “only following orders” so was not responsible for the genoicide

Question 7

One strength of Agency Theory (agentic state)

Answer 7

It’s supported by Milgram’s research when he showed that 65% of ordinary people would obey an authority figure. Therefore, this shows that pp’s where in the agentic state and carried out orders even though the experienced psychological harm

Question 8

One strength of Agency Theory (variation 13)

Answer 8

It’s supported by milligrams variation 13. When the pp’s were asked orders by an ordinary man obedience levels fell to 20%. Therefore, this shows that the majority of pp’s were in the autonomous state and took responsibility for the consequences of shocking Mr Wallace

Question 9

One weakness of agency theory (validity)

Answer 9

However, the study lacks ecological validity as the task of giving electric shocks to a stranger is not something people encounter in everyday life. Therefore, in real life people may behave very differently in the agentic state taking more responsibility for their actions which they are directly responsible for

Question 10

One weakness of agency theory (individual differences)

Answer 10

The theory is an incomplete explanation of why people follow orders. For example it ignores personality, and some people with autonomous characteristics are far more likely to follow orders given by an authority figure. Therefore, its to simplistic to suggest that the reasons for people being in the agentic state are always the same and other factor influence their obedience