Describe and Evaluate Milgrams Agency Theory
Describe and evaluate Milgram’s agency theory [12]
Milgram’s agency theory basically states that you the state of mind you are in determines if you’re obedient or not. He argued that normally we operate in the autonomous state, where you assert control over yourself and what we do. An example of this is when faced with danger, most people will turn away to try and avoid conflict. Even if you decide not to walk away, this is still the autonomous state because you’re deciding what to do. There is also the agentic state which says you are subconsciously acting as an agent to some authority figure and that you do what they tell you because you feel as if you are an agent of that person. An example of this would be during the trial of Nazi’s Adolf Eichmann said, “I was just following orders to kill Jews”. This clearly illustrates that he only did what he did, followed orders, because he was told to and he felt like an agent to Adolf Hitler. Milgram also posed the idea of something called moral strain. This is when you obey an order although it goes against your morals, you feel that what you are doing is wrong but you have no choice. An example of this is in the study of obedience carried out by Milgram. The participants objected to shocking learners by saying that they wouldn’t do it and consistently standing up to avoid it, but still carried on anyway.
The first strength to Milgram’s study is that his theory has practical application. Practical application means it can be applied to explain real life behaviours. An example of this is during the trial of Nazi’s Adolf Eichmann, he said, “I was just following orders to kill Jews”. This shows he was in the Agentic State because he saw himself as an agent of Hitler when helping him to complete the Final Solution. Another advantage is that in Milgram’s study of obedience the study had experimental validity. This is when the experiment is carried out so well that the participants believe that it is real. One participant,
Milgram’s agency theory basically states that you the state of mind you are in determines if you’re obedient or not. He argued that normally we operate in the autonomous state, where you assert control over yourself and what we do. An example of this is when faced with danger, most people will turn away to try and avoid conflict. Even if you decide not to walk away, this is still the autonomous state because you’re deciding what to do. There is also the agentic state which says you are subconsciously acting as an agent to some authority figure and that you do what they tell you because you feel as if you are an agent of that person. An example of this would be during the trial of Nazi’s Adolf Eichmann said, “I was just following orders to kill Jews”. This clearly illustrates that he only did what he did, followed orders, because he was told to and he felt like an agent to Adolf Hitler. Milgram also posed the idea of something called moral strain. This is when you obey an order although it goes against your morals, you feel that what you are doing is wrong but you have no choice. An example of this is in the study of obedience carried out by Milgram. The participants objected to shocking learners by saying that they wouldn’t do it and consistently standing up to avoid it, but still carried on anyway.
The first strength to Milgram’s study is that his theory has practical application. Practical application means it can be applied to explain real life behaviours. An example of this is during the trial of Nazi’s Adolf Eichmann, he said, “I was just following orders to kill Jews”. This shows he was in the Agentic State because he saw himself as an agent of Hitler when helping him to complete the Final Solution. Another advantage is that in Milgram’s study of obedience the study had experimental validity. This is when the experiment is carried out so well that the participants believe that it is real. One participant,