SOCIAL

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

• Following the orders of someone you believe to be in a position of authority
• E.g student and teacher

Question 2

Describe the agentic state in agency theory?

• What’s an example of this?

Answer 2

• Indiviusal acts as an agent for the authority figure
• displaces responsibility of their actions onto the authority figure
• In this state they are likely to obey
• E.g the 65% in Milgram’s study who obeyed to give electric shocks of 450V

Question 3

Why can agency theory be argued to be reductionist?

What does it not consider?

Answer 3

Doesn’t consider the:
- Strength
- Immediacy
- No. of sources
- Personality
- Culture
Doesn’t explain why not everyone experiences agentic shift

Question 4

Describe the agentic shift in agency theory

• What’s an example?

Answer 4

• Individual shifts from an **autonomous to agentic ** state
• Displacing the responsibility of their actions on the authority figure
• May occur in order to resolve moral strain
• E.g Milgram’s experiment, ppts believed the experimenter had the responsibility of harm caused to the confederate

Question 5

Which psychologist came up with agency theory of obedience?

Answer 5

Stanley Milgram

Question 6

Describe the autonomous state in agency state

-What’s an example?

Answer 6

• Individual actsupon their own free will and will disobey if they don’t want to complete the order
• Individual has full responsibility for their own actions
• E.g 35% withdrew from Milgram’s experiment

Question 7

Studies that support agency theory

Answer 7

• Milgram
• Burger
• Hofling
• Bickman

Question 8

Why is agency theory not a very scientific theory?

Answer 8

• Components are all mental “states” which are difficult to operationalise and measure
• Lack empirical evidence of their existence

Question 9

Why can social impact theory be argued to be reductionist?

Answer 9

• Doesn’t consider the importance of personal responsibilty in obedience
• Doesn’t consider individual differences such as personality, gender, culture

Question 10

Outline the 3 components of social impact theory

Answer 10

• Strength (status/authority/power)
• Immediacy (closeness/proximity)
• Number (of sources (+ impact) or of targets (- impact))

Question 11

What evidence is there that females are more obedient than males?

Answer 11

• Sheridan and King - “puppy study” - half

Question 12

Define prejudice

Answer 12

• A negative attitude held towards someone due to their membership to a particular group
• Can often lead to discrimination

Question 13

Which study can be used to both support and oppose social impact theory, how?

Answer 13

• Hofling’s nurses
• 95% obedience to high strength target
• But low immediacy

Question 14

Describe the authoritarian personality type and how it links to obedience

Answer 14

• Right wing, rigid in their thinking, adhere to social hierarchy, anti-democratic
• More likely to be obedient - found by Milgram and Elms

Question 15

How can culture impact obedience?

Answer 15

• Collectivist cultures MORE obedient
• Blass - meta-analysis, results vary from different cultures

Question 16

4 theories in social
- Classic - Contemp