Agency Theory Mindmap

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  • Created by: Maisel
  • Created on: 07-04-24 08:58
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  • Agency Theory
    • Created by Stanley Milgram (obedience studies – electric shock machine).
      • The theory was created as a way to explain Nazi war crimes, in particular Adolf Eichmann who was one of the main perpetrators of the Holocaust, yet during his trial he claimed he was “only following orders”. 
        • People believed a tendency for blind obedience was found in the national character of Germany, however Milgram contested this and said everyone can be blindly obedient.
    • A deterministic theory.
      • Can be used to explain prejudice (key question for social psychology).
    • Two states
      • Autonomous state – this is when a person believes they are in control of their own behaviour and actions. When a person is in this state, they will feel guilty about any negative actions they take.
      • Agentic state – this is when a person does not feel any guilt for their actions as they perceive an authority figure to be in control of their behaviour. 
    • Authority figures
      • A person is perceived as an authority figure when they have symbols of authority and status, for example a uniform, a badge, a rank.
      • The agentic shift is when a person moves from the autonomous state into the agentic state, this is usually because of an order from an authority figure.
    • Moral strain
      • A person will feel moral strain when they receive an order from an authority figure that goes against their moral values. This will make a person conflicted; they will want to either obey the authority figure or obey their own values and conscience.
      • Moral strain may present itself as physical distress, such as shaking.
      • Milgram suggested participants in his obedience studies used defence mechanisms to weaken their moral strain. The defence mechanisms were denial, avoidance, degree of involvement and helping the learner.
        • Denial is when the participants did not admit to themselves for the damage they were potentially causing the learning, they did this by persuading themselves that the shocks were not painful. 
          • Milgram used this as a way to explain people’s behaviour in Nazi Germany, putting forward the view that people did not admit to themselves the horrors that happened in the concentration camps. 
        • Avoidance is when the participants did not look at the experimenter.
        • Degree of involvement is when the participants did not place much force/effort into turning the switches on the shock machine on as a way of not causing as much pain to the learner.
        • Helping the learner is when the participants tried to indicate to the learner the correct answer by placing stress on the right answer.
      • Moral strain is diminished when a person enters the agentic state as they give control to the authority figure, thus eliminating the battle between obeying and their conscience.
    • Evolutionary explanation
      • Milgram says the agentic shift can be explained by evolution. He suggests obedience is a survival trait; if our ancient ancestors disobeyed then they wouldn’t have been able to survive and, as a result, their genes have not been passed on, their genes that were disobedience. 
        • The nature-nurture approach.
          • Milgram says conditioning is also important. Children are taught to respect authority figures – operant conditioning, children are rewarded/punished depending on whether they obey an authority figure.
      • Milgram says conditioning is also important. Children are taught to respect authority figures – operant conditioning, children are rewarded/punished depending on whether they obey an authority figure.
    • Research
      • Milgram’s study into obedience (1961)
      • Milgram’s variations
      • The influence of personality, for example Adorno’s authoritarian personality.
      • Burger (2009)
      • Evaluation
        • Supporting evidence
          • Milgram did a significant amount of research into his theory. His variations give support for his belief that situational factors can affect obedience.   Milgram’s studies are also supported by other studies, such as the contemporary study Burger (2009) conducted.
        • Applications
          • The theory can be applied to real life events, such as the Holocaust, and can be used as a way of preventing tragedies happening again.
          • The theory could be used to reduce prejudice as if authority figures persuade people to be understanding of everyone then it could decrease prejudice and discrimination in society. 
        • Weaknesses
          • The participants who disobeyed in Milgram’s studies did not show moral strain, it was only the participants who obeyed who showed this. This weakens the theory as the theory suggests people go into the agentic state as an attempt to stop moral strain, however this was not observed in Milgram’s studies.
          • There is a lack of ecological validity in Milgram's studies.
    • Applications
      • Agency theory was initially created by Milgram to work out why German citizens obeyed orders from the Nazi’s to commit genocide and to determine whether what happened in Nazi Germany could happen in other places.
        • The evolutionary aspect of the theory (obedience is an innate part of human behaviour) suggests dangerous obedience could happen anywhere.
      • Cross-cultural variations of Milgram’s study
        • Important to look at whether obedience is impacted by a person’s culture.
        • Meeus and Raaijmakers (1986) their results were similar to Milgram’s. They carried out their experiment in Holland, which is quite a liberal country, but they used insults instead of electric shocks as punishment, which is less severe.
        • Shanab and Yahya (1978) their results were similar to Milgram’s and they conducted their experiment in Jordan, a country in the Middle East which is not a Western society. 
          • These studies suggest there is a risk of genocide happening in any country. 
            • Meeus and Raaijmakers (1986) their results were similar to Milgram’s. They carried out their experiment in Holland, which is quite a liberal country, but they used insults instead of electric shocks as punishment, which is less severe.
            • Increases the theory's generalisabilty.
              • Evaluation
                • Supporting evidence
                  • Milgram did a significant amount of research into his theory. His variations give support for his belief that situational factors can affect obedience.   Milgram’s studies are also supported by other studies, such as the contemporary study Burger (2009) conducted.
                • Applications
                  • The theory can be applied to real life events, such as the Holocaust, and can be used as a way of preventing tragedies happening again.
                  • The theory could be used to reduce prejudice as if authority figures persuade people to be understanding of everyone then it could decrease prejudice and discrimination in society. 
                • Weaknesses
                  • The participants who disobeyed in Milgram’s studies did not show moral strain, it was only the participants who obeyed who showed this. This weakens the theory as the theory suggests people go into the agentic state as an attempt to stop moral strain, however this was not observed in Milgram’s studies.
                  • There is a lack of ecological validity in Milgram's studies.

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