Milgram's agency theory of obedience Flashcards
what is obedience?
complying with the rules and set by a recognisable authority, which may impose sanctions for obedience.
-where the individual gives up their free will and hands it over to an authority figure by doing what they say even if they do not believe what they are doing is correct.
what is destructive obedience?
tendency to obey in relation to something immoral.
what is the difference between obedience and destructive obedience.
obedience involves following direct orders of a person in a position of authority.
whereas destructive obedience involves following orders that lead to the harming of another person/people.
what was Milgram interesting in investigating?
what was the hypothesis about the idea?
what idea did he test and what did he find?
Milgram was interested in investigating the psychology underlying the holocaust.
hypothesis: German culture has something distinctive about it to make those involved behave in such a way.
-he initially set out to test the idea that German people were unusual in their response to orders from authority figures.
-he quickly found that people in general are surprisingly obedient to people in authority.
what were Milgram’s states and definitions?
autonomous: They direct their own behaviour and take responsibility for the results.
-independent, self controlled and has conscience.
agentic: they allow someone else to direct their behaviour and assume that responsibility passes to that person.
-does what the are told, controlled, authority takes responsibility.
why does obedience happen?
we are socialised into developing the capacity for the agentic state during childhood.
-this is reinforced in school in favour of maintaining order.
What is moral strain?
When people become uncomfortable with their behaviour because they feel that it is wrong and goes against their values
what did Milgram suggest we use to avoid something?
what was thought to be common in the participants of Milgram’s studies and why?
defence mechanisms to avoid the distress of having to perform acts we would normally find unacceptable.
denial was thought to be particularly common in participants in Milgram’s studies and in the holocaust as perpetrators refused to control what they are doing.
what is supporting evidence of this study?
agency theory explains and supports Milgram’s study in which people obey their destructive orders and harm someone else but suffer stress as a result.
explains why 65% of the participants in Milgram’s study went up to 450v- in an agentic state
-nervous laughing in Milgram’s study
supporting evidence: testing the study
Blass (1996)
showed students an edited film of Milgram’s study and questioned their responsibility.
the suggested that Milgram took on the role of the authority figure and supports agency theory because the participants were seen as being in an agentic state and therefore not to blame for their actions.
supporting evidence Bushman (1988)
found that when a request was made to give a motorist change for a parking meter , it was more likely to be followed if the person requesting it had the trappings of authority.
Is obedience heavily nature or nurture?
Nurture
Ingrained behavour is established through the process of what?
Socialisation
What is agency theory?
People are ordered to act against their moral codes and in doing so experience stress
What two things did milligram suggest need to be in place in order for a person to enter the agentic state?
-the person giving their orders is perceives as being qualified to direct other people’s behaviour
-the person being ordered about it angle to believe that the authority will accept responsibility for what happens.
evidence supporting- Hofling et al
21 out of 22 nurses obeyed the doctor and gave a potentially lethal overdose to a patient. They were in an agentic state and displayed their personal responsibility onto the doctor giving the order.
applications of this theory
helps to explain real life atrocities such as the holocaust where many Jews and members of other minority groups were slaughtered.
one of the soldiers said he was just obeying orders.
how useful is this theory?
its very difficult to test using scientific procedures because agency theory involves internal mental processes.
credibility of the theory
it doesn’t explain individual differences and why some people obey and some people don’t.
people may disobey for different reasons-therefore obedience is amore complex process than being explained by agency theory.
contrasting research for the theory
there are other theories of obedience that could explain the actions of Milgram’s participants; such as social impact theory. Therefore this makes the agency theory less powerful as an explanation.
what does evolutionary theory suggest about obedience?
hierarchal social system may have been passed genetically as early humans had a better chance of survival if they lived in social groups so they act in an agentic state.
