Obedience: Agency theory

Question 1

What are the 2 obedient mindsets Milgram suggested we had

Answer 1

Autonomous state and agentic state

Question 2

Autonomous state

describe the autonomous state

Answer 2

Our behaviour is self directed so we choose how we behave.

• More likely to exercise our personal understanding of right and wrong to guide our choices

Question 3

Autonomous state

When do we operate in this state

Answer 3

When we are on our own
With peers/friends
With people we precieve to be below us in social hierachy

Question 4

Agentic shift

define the agentic shift

Answer 4

when we go from the autonomous state to the agentic state

Question 5

Agentic shift

when does the agentic shift occur

Answer 5

when we meet people who we precieve to be higher than us in the social hierachy who are a legitimate authority figure

Question 6

Agentic state

describe the agentic state

Answer 6

become the ‘agent’ of the authority figure, so responsibility for our actions is on them.

• May follow orders of authority figure because we feel we have no choice
• Milgram believed this state is what led people to committing acts of destructive obedience

Question 7

Research support

Answer 7

Milgrams 1963 study supported agency theory.

100% of participants administered 300V shock to a confederate when told to by an authority figure.

Shows people may carry out orders from authority figure inspite of heavy moral strain

Question 8

Competing arguement to research support

Answer 8

Gina Perry question internal validity of his study

After examining released evidence from the Yale University about his study, revealed about 60% of all participants from all variations weren’t obedient

This evidence doubts how true agency theory is

Question 9

Agency theory reductionism

Answer 9

Theory is reductionist

Doesn’t take into consideration individual diffrences of obedience like gender and culture.

Showing its an incomplete theory of obedience.

Question 10

Research evidence against

Answer 10

Study on nurses being told to give an overdosing amount of a drug to a patient by a doctor

16/18 nurses disobeyed the orders

Shows agentic shift is not inevitable as the nurses remained in the autonomous state

Question 11

application of agency theory

Answer 11

Can help understand the awful behaviours of the nazi officers in the holocaust. Who claimed they were just doing as they were told.

This information can be used to help prevent this from happening again