Social Psychology Flashcards
The Social Approach
Emphasises the influence of human society or social situations on behaviour
The Social Approach-The effect of interactions between individuals
Looks at interactions between individuals, such as obedience to authority. Agency theory suggests that people are agents in society and give up their free will to do exactly as they are told by someone in authority even if this meant harming another person
The Social Approach-The effect of being in groups within society
Assumes that people live within a culture and society where their behaviour is affected by their experiences within that society, where they are members of a certain group. Social identity theory suggests that by identifying oneself as being a member of a group, a person can become prejudiced against other members of another group
Obedience
A form of social influence where the behaviour of an individual is influenced by a real or imagined pressure from another.
Agency Theory
(Developed by Milgram) says that people act as agents on the behalf of someone else in authority and believe that the authority figure will take responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
Agentic state
When a person acts as an agent on the behalf of someone else in authority so they don’t use their own free will or take responsibility for their actions
Autonomous state
When a person uses their own free will to act as they wish so they are responsible for their own actions
Moral strain
Experiencing anxiety because you are asked to do something that goes against your moral judgment
Socialisation
The process by which we learn the rules and norms of society through socialising agents, such as parents and teachers
Displacement
The shift into the agentic state which relieves moral strain as the individual displaces responsibility of their actions onto the authority figure, to release them from the consequences
Evaluation: Agency Theory (Supporting Evidence)
Milgram’s baseline obedience experiment-65% of participants were willing to obey an authority figure and potentially seriously harm an innocent confederate of the study-evidence for agency theory because participants showed signs of moral strain when given an order. When participants were debriefed, many said that the experimenter was responsible for their actions, and that they had not wanted to do it-evidence for the concept of displacement of responsibility
Evaluation: Agency Theory (Opposing Evidence)
It doesn’t explain individual differences- why some people obey and others do not as disobedience can occur for many reasons such as personality type, gender and situation
Evaluation: Agency Theory (Different Theories)
French and Raven (1959) identified five bases of power, which are said to motivate and influence behaviour: legitimate power, reward power, referent power, expert power and coercive power. These factors are said to provide a better explanation for obedience, and for Milgram’s findings from his experiments
Evaluation: Agency Theory (Applications)
It can explain real-life events where obedience to authority has occurred. For example, in the Second World War where many German soldiers were instructed by the Nazi Party to carry out the extermination of many innocent Jewish people. Also, Nazi lieutenant and organiser, Adolf Eichmann refused to take responsibility for the deaths of the Jewish people when on trial, placing his responsibility onto the authority figure who had commanded him to carry out the orders
