Milgram's Agency Theory

Created by: tomtom11
Created on: 16-04-17 15:55

Agency Theory STRENGTH- Hofling et al (1966)

A fake doctor phoned a nurse asking them to administer a drug to a patient that'd break many hospital guidelines. 21/22 nurses attempted to obey this. Supports theory as many nurses displaced their responsibility onto the doctor.

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Agency Theory STRENGTH- Gupta (1983)

Studied obedience in India with a similar procedure to Milgram, finding that 27.6% of obedient males accepted responsibility for their actions compared to 49.4% who weren't obedient. 52% of obedient males placed responsibility on the experimenter.

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Agency Theory STRENGTH- Blass (1996)

Clips of Milgram's original study were shown. Participants blamed Milgram for the shocks administered to Mr Wallace, as they identified him as the authority figure. Supports agency theory because the pts were seen as being in the agentic state.

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Agency Theory STRENGTH- Blass and Schmitt (2001)

Partially supports the theory, as they showed students the same footage and questioned them as to why Milgram had power of pts. They said legitimacy as a scientist and expertise. Theory only supports former.

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Agency Theory WEAKNESS- French and Raven (1959)

Alternative explanation of Social Power Theory, claiming there are different types of power that make people obey: Legitimate (being in a role), Reward (can give rewards), Coercive (can punish), Expert (having knowledge), and Referent (persuasion).

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Agency Theory WEAKNESS of application

Negative social implications, as leaders could be trained to manipulate people into an Agentic state in order to make them obey and commit undesired acts.

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Agency Theory WEAKNESS of the theory being incomplete

Doesn't neatly explain the ability of leaders to command obedience from subordinates, as some people are fantastic at persuasion (like Adolf Hitler) despite holding little legitimacy in their power (in the early days)

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Agency Theory WEAKNESS of individual differences

Doesn't take into account the fact that individual differences may make someone not obey, with there being some people in Milgram's experiments who didn't obey. Suggests other factors may be at play.

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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Agency Theory STRENGTH- Gupta (1983)

Back

Card 3

Front

Agency Theory STRENGTH- Blass (1996)

Back

Card 4

Front

Agency Theory STRENGTH- Blass and Schmitt (2001)

Back

Card 5

Front

Agency Theory WEAKNESS- French and Raven (1959)

Back

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Milgram's Agency Theory