Social Psychology Notes
Obedience (1.1.1-1.1.3)
Agency Theory (1.1.1) :
General:
T
● he Agency Theory is the idea that oursocial systemleads to obedience
● Obedience to authority helps our society to run smoothly
● We live in hierarchically organised social groups and that in order for society to function
successfully, subordinates may sometimes have tosuppresstheir personal desiresto
carry out what theirsuperiorswhat them to do
○ The subordinates act asagentsfor their superiors
Where does obedience come from:
Nature (what you are born with)
● Evolutionary/genetically
Nurture (the influence of your environment)
● O bedience can be learnt by one's surrounding environment when growing up, eg from
parents
● There are hierarchies in every society/group
● Obedience is shaped by different parenting style and by educational experiences
Agency Theory by Milgram
● S
uggests that humans havetwo mindsetsthat enablethem tooperate independently
(autonomous state)or under the direction of others(agentic state)
Autonomous state: (our behaviour is self-directed)
A
● mindset where individuals behave independently anddisplay free will
● Thus makeown decisionson how tobehaveandtakeresponsibility for the
consequencesof theirown actions
● The state, where we exercise our personal understanding of right and wrong to guide
our choices (depending on the situation)
, e are in anautonomous state- when we are on our own, with peers, or those we perceive as
W
below us in the social hierarchy
Agentic Shift (shift from the autonomous state to the agentic state):
● W
e quickly judge whether another person is higher or lower than us in the social
hierarchy and whether they have legitimate authority → thus the social consensus that
someone has the right to give orders and to enforce obedience)
herefore when confronted with a legitimate authority figure, we change our normal
T
autonomous state to the agentic state - this is agentic shift
Agentic State:
● A mindset which allows individuals to carry out orders from an authority figure - even if it
conflicts with their personal sense of right/wrong
● Absolve themselves of responsibility- believe thatwe are acting on the behalf of the
authority figure → become their‘agent’
○ Thusblame them for any negative consequences
● This mindset can lead todestructive obedience→ whereindividuals conduct actions
that will results in negative outcomes such as harm to others.
● Blind obedience -when individuals do what they aretold to, regardless of what they
believe is ethically, morally or legally correct
Moral Strain
● A
state ofmental discomfortor anxiety experiencedin the agentic state when a
person's actionsconflictwith their personal morals
AO3
Strength: SE
● M ilgram's baseline study (1963)found that100%ofppts administered 300v and 65%
of participants administered 450v to the learner confederate
● This shows that in the face of legitimate authority (an experimenter in a lab coat), people
are highly likely to carry out the orders given,dueto high levels of moral strain.After
ppts were debriefed, many displaced their responsibility to the experimenter, due to their
higher authority, providing experimental evidence that agency theory explains obedience
CA: Agentic shift doesn’t always occur (due to Individual differences)
, ● R ank & Jacobson’s (1977)found that16/18of nurses failed to obey orders from a
doctor who asked them to administer anoverdose ofthe drug Valium
● This shows that despite the high authority of the doctor, the nurses remained in an
autonomous state and that thenurses considered themselves responsible for their
actions
● Therefore, contradicting findings fromMilgrams'sstudy,and weakening the argument
that the agency theory plays a role in obedience as the agentic shift may not always
occur due to individual differences, also weakening Milgrams study as SE, thus it’s
findings must be taken with caution
Reductionist:
● M ilgram’s Agency theory isreductionistas it onlyconsiders how obedience is caused
by an authority figure, disregarding other factors such as how individual differences - the
personality type of individuals, eg those who score lowly on the F-scale are less
obedient
● This means the agency theory as an explanation of obedience is incomplete
Application
● O ne application of Agency theory is that it has helped psychologists understand why
ordinarypeople can commit atrocious acts
● Eg, how Nazi soldiers in the agentic state followed orders from a authority figure to
murder Jews, during the holocaust, even though this act went against their conscience,
resulting in moral strain
● Through this understanding, psychologists are more able to prevent such happenings in
the future by getting subordinates to question the authority of their bosses when asked
to carry out orders going against their morality
Social Impact Theory by (Latane, 1981)
● IT looks at thefunctioning of individualsin thepresence of others
S
● SIT proposes that individuals can be sources or targets of social influence.
● Source is theperson doing the influence
● Targets is theperson who is influenced
here are3 factorsthat affects the likelihood someonewill respond to social influences:
T
source’s strength, event’s immediacy and the number of sources exerting impact
Strength (S):
, ● The perceived power or authority of the source and the message that they convey
g, astrong sourcemay communicate in an authoritative,intense or charismatic way,
E
increaing obedience
● Strength can be affected bysocial-economic status,age, relationship withthe target
Immediacy (I):
T
● heclosenessof the source and the target in termsofspaceandtime [physical]
● I.ehow recentthe influence is andhow closethesource is to the target [relationship
closeness]
● The more recent the event and closer the source to the target, increases obedience
Numbers (N):
● T he number of sourcespresent during the event (thisdetermines the level of social
impact)
● More sources and less targets willincrease obedience
● Divisional effect: Whereas,social impact is reducedif there aremore targetsthan
there aresources, Impactis divided bynumber oftargets
AO3
Strength: SE: Use all 3 factors
edikides and Jackson (1990)carried out afield experimentin a birdhouse at a New York
S
Zoo. A confederate told groups of visitors to not lean on a railings near the bird cages.
trength (S):When the confederate was dressed inaT shirt and shorts,obedience levels
S
was 35%
Whereas, when the confederate was dressed as azookeeper, obedience levels was 58%
Immediacy:When visitors were further away from theconfederate(in an adjacent room),
obedience levels was 7%
hereas, when visitors were in thesame roomas theconfederate,obedience levels was
W
61%
Number:When visitors were in groups of one or two,obedience levels was 60%
Whereas, when in groups offiveorsix,obediencelevels was 14%
Obedience (1.1.1-1.1.3)
Agency Theory (1.1.1) :
General:
T
● he Agency Theory is the idea that oursocial systemleads to obedience
● Obedience to authority helps our society to run smoothly
● We live in hierarchically organised social groups and that in order for society to function
successfully, subordinates may sometimes have tosuppresstheir personal desiresto
carry out what theirsuperiorswhat them to do
○ The subordinates act asagentsfor their superiors
Where does obedience come from:
Nature (what you are born with)
● Evolutionary/genetically
Nurture (the influence of your environment)
● O bedience can be learnt by one's surrounding environment when growing up, eg from
parents
● There are hierarchies in every society/group
● Obedience is shaped by different parenting style and by educational experiences
Agency Theory by Milgram
● S
uggests that humans havetwo mindsetsthat enablethem tooperate independently
(autonomous state)or under the direction of others(agentic state)
Autonomous state: (our behaviour is self-directed)
A
● mindset where individuals behave independently anddisplay free will
● Thus makeown decisionson how tobehaveandtakeresponsibility for the
consequencesof theirown actions
● The state, where we exercise our personal understanding of right and wrong to guide
our choices (depending on the situation)
, e are in anautonomous state- when we are on our own, with peers, or those we perceive as
W
below us in the social hierarchy
Agentic Shift (shift from the autonomous state to the agentic state):
● W
e quickly judge whether another person is higher or lower than us in the social
hierarchy and whether they have legitimate authority → thus the social consensus that
someone has the right to give orders and to enforce obedience)
herefore when confronted with a legitimate authority figure, we change our normal
T
autonomous state to the agentic state - this is agentic shift
Agentic State:
● A mindset which allows individuals to carry out orders from an authority figure - even if it
conflicts with their personal sense of right/wrong
● Absolve themselves of responsibility- believe thatwe are acting on the behalf of the
authority figure → become their‘agent’
○ Thusblame them for any negative consequences
● This mindset can lead todestructive obedience→ whereindividuals conduct actions
that will results in negative outcomes such as harm to others.
● Blind obedience -when individuals do what they aretold to, regardless of what they
believe is ethically, morally or legally correct
Moral Strain
● A
state ofmental discomfortor anxiety experiencedin the agentic state when a
person's actionsconflictwith their personal morals
AO3
Strength: SE
● M ilgram's baseline study (1963)found that100%ofppts administered 300v and 65%
of participants administered 450v to the learner confederate
● This shows that in the face of legitimate authority (an experimenter in a lab coat), people
are highly likely to carry out the orders given,dueto high levels of moral strain.After
ppts were debriefed, many displaced their responsibility to the experimenter, due to their
higher authority, providing experimental evidence that agency theory explains obedience
CA: Agentic shift doesn’t always occur (due to Individual differences)
, ● R ank & Jacobson’s (1977)found that16/18of nurses failed to obey orders from a
doctor who asked them to administer anoverdose ofthe drug Valium
● This shows that despite the high authority of the doctor, the nurses remained in an
autonomous state and that thenurses considered themselves responsible for their
actions
● Therefore, contradicting findings fromMilgrams'sstudy,and weakening the argument
that the agency theory plays a role in obedience as the agentic shift may not always
occur due to individual differences, also weakening Milgrams study as SE, thus it’s
findings must be taken with caution
Reductionist:
● M ilgram’s Agency theory isreductionistas it onlyconsiders how obedience is caused
by an authority figure, disregarding other factors such as how individual differences - the
personality type of individuals, eg those who score lowly on the F-scale are less
obedient
● This means the agency theory as an explanation of obedience is incomplete
Application
● O ne application of Agency theory is that it has helped psychologists understand why
ordinarypeople can commit atrocious acts
● Eg, how Nazi soldiers in the agentic state followed orders from a authority figure to
murder Jews, during the holocaust, even though this act went against their conscience,
resulting in moral strain
● Through this understanding, psychologists are more able to prevent such happenings in
the future by getting subordinates to question the authority of their bosses when asked
to carry out orders going against their morality
Social Impact Theory by (Latane, 1981)
● IT looks at thefunctioning of individualsin thepresence of others
S
● SIT proposes that individuals can be sources or targets of social influence.
● Source is theperson doing the influence
● Targets is theperson who is influenced
here are3 factorsthat affects the likelihood someonewill respond to social influences:
T
source’s strength, event’s immediacy and the number of sources exerting impact
Strength (S):
, ● The perceived power or authority of the source and the message that they convey
g, astrong sourcemay communicate in an authoritative,intense or charismatic way,
E
increaing obedience
● Strength can be affected bysocial-economic status,age, relationship withthe target
Immediacy (I):
T
● heclosenessof the source and the target in termsofspaceandtime [physical]
● I.ehow recentthe influence is andhow closethesource is to the target [relationship
closeness]
● The more recent the event and closer the source to the target, increases obedience
Numbers (N):
● T he number of sourcespresent during the event (thisdetermines the level of social
impact)
● More sources and less targets willincrease obedience
● Divisional effect: Whereas,social impact is reducedif there aremore targetsthan
there aresources, Impactis divided bynumber oftargets
AO3
Strength: SE: Use all 3 factors
edikides and Jackson (1990)carried out afield experimentin a birdhouse at a New York
S
Zoo. A confederate told groups of visitors to not lean on a railings near the bird cages.
trength (S):When the confederate was dressed inaT shirt and shorts,obedience levels
S
was 35%
Whereas, when the confederate was dressed as azookeeper, obedience levels was 58%
Immediacy:When visitors were further away from theconfederate(in an adjacent room),
obedience levels was 7%
hereas, when visitors were in thesame roomas theconfederate,obedience levels was
W
61%
Number:When visitors were in groups of one or two,obedience levels was 60%
Whereas, when in groups offiveorsix,obediencelevels was 14%
