Social Flashcards
(56 cards)
Agency Theory
-Developed by Stanley Milgram
-Where we perceive some people to be authority figures
Obedience can be learned or inherited
What is the autonomous state
-Acting on free will
-In control of your actions, will feel responsibility and therefore guilt
What is the Agentic Shift
When a person is confronted with an authority figure and shifts from autonomous to agentic state- removing free will
What is the agentic state
When you become and agent to an authority figure and shift from autonomous to agentic state removing free will and responsibility
What are authority figures
-Someone carrying a symbol of authority, uniform, or possess status, rank
-An order from an authority figure triggers the agentic shift into agentic state
What is Moral Starin
-When an authority figure gives an order that contradicts with conscience and undergoes moral strain
-Feel torn between conscience & authority
-Obey society expectations or our moral compass
What are defence mechanisms
-mechanisms to lessen moral strain
-Denial: Convincing yourself it’s not as bad as you think
-Avoidance: Taking part but looking away or trying to play minor role
Credibility of Agency Theory
-Supported by Milgram’s Study into obedience
-Found that in face of legitimate authority, people are highly likely to carry out orders
-Study variations support idea that situational factors affect participant obedience, especially if they were related to perceived authority of experimenter
Objections of Agency Theory
- Moral strain is questioned as people in Milgram study who obeyed showed signs of moral strain e.g. sweating, shaking
-People who disobeyed showed no signs
-Study lacked ecological validity as irl teachers aren’t asked to electrocute students
Differences of Agency Theory
-Alternative= social impact
-SIT= everyone applies social force to gain obedience
-SIT ignores teh importance of moral strain
Adorno- authoritarian personality suggests obedience to evil orders comes from a dysfunctional personality not social situation
Social Impact Theory
-Developed by Latane
-Describes how we behave in social forcefields impacting on each other
-Everyone is potentially a source or a target of social influence
What is Strength
How much power you believe the person influencing you has
Creds: Milgram variation with lab coat- added to power perceived so obedience was higher
What is Immediacy
How recent the influence is and how close the person influencing you is
Creds: Milgram’s variation #7 with absent authority figure, prods over phone caused obedience to drop
What is Number
The amount of influencers
What is divisions of impact
-Idea that social force is spread out over all people it’s directed at
-If all force directed at one person- puts huge pressure to obey
-Diffusion of responsibility: More people there are less personal responsibility each person feels
Types of power
Legitimate: Higher status
Reward: Have money or can perform favours
Coercive: Can punish you
Expert: Seen as knowledgeable
Referent: Belong to groups you respect
Credibility of Social Impact Theory
-Sedikides & Jackson’s field experiment
-Confederate told people not to lean on railings near bird cages
-When confederate was dressed casually obedience was lower than if Zookeeper uniform
-As time pass visitors ignored instructions
Objections of Social Impacts
-Ignores responsibility of personality factors- authoritarian personality
-Only considers situational factors that affect obedience
Differences of Social Impact
-Agency theory is very simplistic compared to social impact theory
-Milgram suggests we have evolved into an obedient mental state however not much evidence in general
Realistic Conflict Theory
-Theory of Prejudice proposed by Sherif
-Explanation abt how competition for limited resources leads to prejudice
-Theory focuses on intergroup conflict
What is intergroup conflict
-People tend to identify with their group (ingroups)- tend to have negative views about other groups (outgroup)
-When two or more groups are striving for same goal, prejudice and hostility will intensify
-We show ingroup favouritism, wanting more resources for our group, if resources are scarce, prejudice to outgroup increases
What are limited resources
-Struggle for limited resources between groups may be for scarce material
-Situations involving competition for finite resources often lead to highest levels of prejudice and discrimination
What is Negative Interdependance
-Occurs in situations where two groups are both seeking to achieve a goal
-For one group to gain it comes at expense at the others group
-Each group doesn’t want to give up privilege, leads to intergroup competition
What are superordinate goals
-Mutually desired goals that cannot be obtained without the participation of two/ more groups
-Increases favourable perceptions of the opposing group
Creds: Sherif study, boys have to pull truck of food out of ditch
