Detailed summary of Alevel Edexcel Social Psychology notes. Summarises key A01, A02, A03, A03CA points. Explains the point, gives evidence of point, evaluates point and provides counter argument. Includes information on Agency Theory, Social impact theory, situational external and internal factors...
Social psychology- Theories and applied studies
Agency theory- give up free will to act accordingly to an authority figure
A01
o Agentic state= surrender free will to serve interests of wider group
o Autonomous state= acting according to your own free will
o Moral strain= in an agentic state when you are asked to do something you don’t want to do-
diffusion of responsibility or stop
o Socialisation= learning social rules form peers/ parent/ teachers
o Social etiquette= unwritten rules of what you should do in a social situation
A03
- Milgram- obeyed perceived authority figure, administering shocks, 65% shocked to max
- Hofling- nurse & phone experiment, field experiment, perceived legitimate authority caused
agentic state, 21/22 obeyed administering drug against rules.
- Sheridan and king- obeying authority figure and electrocuting puppies, 100% of women
conformed, 50% of men stopped
A03CA
- Charisma, social power theory- may have a higher social power even if on the same
hierarchical level, more people would obey
- Faults of Milgram- not everyone obeyed (35%) agency theory doesn’t explain individual
differences
- Circular argument- in agentic state because are obeying yet are obeying due to being in an
agentic state reducing credibility of theory as is inferred
- Social impact theory- agency theory suggests automatic obeying yet SIT suggests dependant
on perceived figure
Social impact theory -how people influence us
A01
o SIN- strength (status/authority/ age), immediacy (proximity between sources and targets),
number (how many sources/targets)
o Sources v targets-
o Group polarisation- groups come to more extreme decisions
o Division of impact- influence is spread between targets so less likely to obey if more people
are present- diffusion of responsibility (makes people feel more anonymous if in a large
group
o Plateau effects- influence of source levels off
o Explains why an authority figure may lose influence
A03
- Latane and wolf- status of group affects decisions, smoke filled room, sources v targets
- Latane and Darley- bystander effect, better to collapse on quiet street than busy street,
division of impact, number of sources to targets is smaller
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