Social Psychology Flashcards
Claim of Agency theory
obedience is a result of individuals being in an agentic state, displacing responsibility
Components of Agency theory
agentic state
autonomous state
agentic shift
moral strain
Supporting evidence for agency theory
Milgram original study, ppts blamed authority for telling them to shock the learner
Opposing evidence for agency theory
doesn’t support individual differences and why some people don’t go through an agentic shift
Different theory for agency theory
Social impact theory, explains how authority impacts individuals through strength, immediacy and number
Application for agency theory
Explains Nazi Germany and Adolf Eichmann who claimed he was just following orders, blaming his authority
Claim for social impact theory
the greater strength and number, and closer the immediacy, the more likely an individual is to obey
components of social impact theory
strength
immediacy
number
define strength
authority
define immediacy
distance
define number
total number of sources and targets
supporting evidence for social impact theory
Hofling- 95% of nurses obeyed a doctor over the phone to give double the recommended drug to patient
opposing evidence for social impact theory
doesn’t explain individual differences and why some people aren’t affected as much by authority compared to others
Different theory for social impact theory
Agency theory- explains the shift from autonomous to agentic state
Application for social impact theory
more authority in larger gatherings to promote social control
Aim of Milgram original
how far people would go in obeying an instruction from an authority figure if it involved harming someone
Procedure of Milgram original
volunteer sample
paid $4.50
sample between 20-50
from new haven area
confederate was always learner, real ppt was always teacher
15 volt increments, shocked every time got word pair wrong
given 4 verbal prods
315V leaner went silent
debrief at the end
Results of Milgram original
65% went to 450V
3 had seizures
everyone went to 300V
Conclusion of Milgram original
ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by authority, even if it means killing someone
Telephonic instructions aim
the effect of proximity to authority figure
telephonic instructions procedure
ppts given order to shock learner through telephone
telephonic instructions results
22.5% went to 450V
many lied and said they shocked learner when they didn’t
telephonic instructions conclusion
the greater the distance, the less obedience
rundown office block aim
investigate situational factors affecting obedience, the effect of the status of the environment
rundown office block procedure
procedure ran in rundown office block in Bridgeport rather than Yale
rundown office block results
48% ppts went to maximum 450v
run down office block conclusion
the lower the status of the environment, the less obedience
ordinary man aim
to investigate situational factors affecting obedience, the affect of status/authority of the individual giving the orders
ordinary man procedure
experimenter is a confederate pretending to be ppt who was ‘randomly’ allocated the role through drawing straws
ordinary man results
20% ppts went to 450V
ordinary man conclusion
the lesser the status, the less obedience
what was Hofling’s study
doctor called 22 nurses to give more than recommended dosage to patient. 21/22 obeyed
what was Bickman’s study
confederate dressed in normal clothes, milkman uniform or security guard uniform. asked people to pick up litter. more obedience when dressed as guard