agency theory | nature-nurture

• Agency Theory - proposes the existence of an autonomous and an agentic state
• Agentic state -  we perceive ourselves to be the agent of someone else’s will; the authority figure commanding us is responsible for what we do so we feel not guilt.
• Autonomous state -  we perceive ourselves to be responsible for our own behavior so we feel guilt for what we do [ act on free -will ]
• Moral strain  -  this is when you feel uncomfortable with your behavior because you know it is wrong and because it goes against your own morals / values [ Milgram's pps felt MS when they continued to obey  even though they felt it was wrong , but felt unable to disobey
• Applications of Agency theory : Holocaust | parent-child relationship | teacher-student  | employer - employee relationship
• Advantages Of AT

  • Supported by research evidence - Milgram [ 65% of pps up to 450v , 35 % stopped sometime before]
  • Credible explanation for obedience | helps explain real life situations such as the holocaust where the soldiers acted as agents in deporting people to concentration camps.
  • Holfing  et al - field experiment where real life hospital nurses acted as agents to an unknown doctor in treating patients in a way that may have led to n overdose.
• Disads of AT

  • Individual differences - some people may be more obedient than others | Zimmer suggested the theory of an 'authoritarian personality' and used psychometric tests and found that Nazi soldiers and US soldiers personalities differed slightly.
  • Ethical implications - it may offer an excuse for those who commit atrocities under pressure | they may use the theory and say they were just 'following orders' even if they knew what they were doing is wrong.
  • Anti-social implications - theory could be used in a negative way which may result in the manipulation of people into an agentic state
• Nature - biological / genetic influences
• Nurture - environmental / situational influences
• Milgram was attempting to establish that obedience was not only a dispositional trait [nature] as historians suggested at the time, but was a consequence of the situation