Milgram's Agency Theory of Obedience explores the psychological reasons behind individuals' compliance with authority, even against their conscience. It introduces the autonomous and agentic states, factors sustaining obedience, moral strain, and insights from the famous electric shock experiment. The theory's implications for historical atrocities and obedience research are also discussed.
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Individuals operate in either an autonomous state or an agentic state
Trigger
The agentic shift is triggered by the perception of a legitimate authority figure issuing a command
Factors
The agentic shift is maintained by binding factors such as demands of authority, desire for social harmony, and perceived legitimacy
Moral strain occurs when there is a conflict between obedience to authority and personal ethical beliefs, leading to psychological stress
Milgram's experiment involved participants administering electric shocks to a learner for each error made during a learning task
Variations
Obedience rates varied with changes in the learner's proximity, perceived legitimacy of the setting, and presentation of the authority figure
Milgram's theory has faced criticism for potentially overemphasizing situational factors over individual differences and intrinsic motivations
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According to Milgram, individuals can be in an ______ state, making decisions based on their own principles, or in an ______ state, where they follow orders without feeling personally responsible.
autonomous
agentic
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The theory by ______ was aimed at understanding how ordinary people could commit atrocities, attributing their obedience to a psychological state rather than inherent evil.
Stanley Milgram
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Definition of agentic shift
Psychological transition from autonomy to obedience to authority.
