agentic state

• The conflict someone feels when they feel like they need to obey the authority figure, but don’t want to be responsible for the bad consequences, is known as moral strain
• Milgram also came up with agency theory as an explanation of obedience
• Agency theory states that when people obey orders of a legitimate authority figure, they make an agentic shift and place the responsibility of the consequences of their actions on to the authority figure.
• The agentic shift is when someone shifts from an autonomous state to an agentic state.
•  The agentic shift allows people to obey legitimate authority figures even when the orders are destructive or bad.
• The agentic state is a mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour.

  We believe ourselves to be acting for an authority figure i.e. as their agent.
• The agentic state frees us from the demands of our conscience and allows us to obey even destructive authority figures
• In the agentic state we still experience anxiety over what we are doing, but we don't feel able to disobey the orders.
• The agentic state

  • occurs in the presence of a perceived authority figure
  • people remain in this state because of binding factors
• The opposite of an agentic state is an autonomous state
• When we move from an autonomous to an agentic state it is called an agentic shift
• The first condition needed for an agent shift is the perception of a legitimate figure of authority.