High quality social influence essay on a past question, written by an A* student in the run-up to my actual exams; achieved 12/12. This was written for the AQA specification.
Describe and evaluate agency theory as an explanation for obedience [12]
Agency theory is a psychological theory by Stanley Milgram that explains the obedience in people,
where people act in either an autonomous state (one where the person in question acts completely
voluntarily and of their own free will, aware of the consequences) or an agentic state (one where
people follow the orders from an authority figure, therefore giving up their own free will but shifting
the responsibility of their own actions onto the authority figure); or people shift from one state to
the other (agentic shift). Agency theory can be used as an explanation for obedience because it
explains why people would go against their own moral code in the name of authority. This is
demonstrated in Milgram’s 1963 obedience study where he had participants (the ‘teacher’ in the
scenario) administer, unknowingly fake, electric shocks to ‘learners’ (confederates) where the
learners would be answering questions and getting them wrong. The participants administered
shocks up to 450V, which would be a lethal shock to the learner. The participants were told to shock
the learner by a scientist (a confederate); therefore the participants were in the agentic state, acting
as agents for the scientist, carrying out his orders. 65% of participants ended up shocking the learner
at 450V, with 35% refusing to shock the learner further between 300V to 400V. This demonstrates
that the participants were in the agentic state as the latter shows that they were undergoing moral
strain – this is a feature that only occurs when one is following the orders of someone else not their
own as when one is in the autonomous state the consequences of their actions are considered and
often predicted by their thought processes. The qualitative data also shows this as the participants
were displaying signs of concern for the learner, frequently hesitating , and displayed physical signs
of guilt – this reinforces the evidence for moral strain; thus evidence for agency theory. The research
also shows us that all 40 participants shocked the learner with at least 300V (a very intense shock).
This also demonstrates agency theory because all participants, regardless of personality, were
following the orders of the scientist and in the agentic state. They were deferring the responsibility
from themselves and shifting it onto the scientist. This shows that agency theory is an explanation
for obedience because people shift this accountability for immoral actions as a means to cope with
the moral strain. People often want to see themselves as good people and so this is also a way of
proving to their own moral compass that they do have good morals – often people’s self-image is
fragile and need this validation. This is shown in other real-world examples. For example, an
executioner during the Medieval period would not have been trialed for murder because he would
simply have been following the orders of the King (he is shifting the blame onto the higher authority
to not only cope with the moral strain, but also to avoid negative repercussions). From a young age,
societal norms have naturally put us in the agentic state as all children are ever taught is to obey
authority figures such as teachers or parents because we are told that they have our best interests at
heart – in a children environment this is true, however in the adult world it often not. Another
reason for obedience is because people may associate authority figures with this sense that they
have our best interests at heart, giving people a reason to tend towards authority.
A strength of agency theory is its high external validity and can be used as a credible explanation for
obedience. The theory describes people’s actions in a very general way, therefore it can be used to
explain many real-world situations. For example, during the Holocaust Nazi soldiers were given
orders to send many Jewish people into the gas chambers and kill them. In an autonomous state, no
one would lack in morals to such a far extent that they would willingly deport men, women, and
children to concentration camps. The soldiers were following orders from an authority figure and
were in an agentic state. After WW2, many Nazi soldiers were shown footage of the concentration
camps whilst in their autonomous state (not following orders of any kind at the time, therefore
being in their natural frame of mind and not under the influence of any authority figure)and they
displayed many signs of guilt, regret, and other negative emotions that demonstrate moral strain.
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