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
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
