Social Theories

• Agency: what is the autonomous state?


  this is where a persons behaviour is self directed and they therefore take greater responsibility for their actions
• Agency: what is the agentic state?

  this is where a person becomes an agent of an authority figure, therefore the responsibilities of their actions lie with the authority figure
• Agency: what is moral strain?

  this is what people experience when they're asked to do something by an authority figure that they would not choose to do themselves
• Agency: what happens when an individual is going through moral strain?

  they have to decide between dissenting a figure of authority and doing something they feel is immoral.
• Agency: how does an individual relive moral strain?

  the shift into the agentic state relieves moral strain as it displaces the responsibility of the situation onto the authority figure.
• Agency: how does an individual relive moral strain?

  by dissenting authority
• What study can be used as evidence for agency theory?

  Hofling
• How can Hofling be used as evidence for agency theory?

  participants undergo the agentic shift when realising the doctor giving orders has authority
• How can Milgram be used as evidence for agency theory?

  participants undergo moral strain when administering shocks, releasing strain by placing it on the authority figure asking "will this cause long term damage?" or dissenting
• Social Identity theory: explain personal identity


  this is where someone strives to achieve positive self image. It is based on characteristics unique to the individual
• Social Identity theory: explain social identity 


  a membership to a certain group. The persons image will be based on the attributes of the group which we belong to.
• Social identity theory: explain social categorisation


  this is where in group and out groups are recognised.
• Social identity theory: explain social identification 


  this involves the individual adopting the beliefs, values and attributes of the groups which they see themselves belonging to.
• Social identity theory: explain social identification 


  during social identification an individual will alter their behaviour to fit with the norms of the group.
• Social identity theory: explain social comparison 


  this is where in-group favouritism occurs, group members will see the individuals in their group as unique and in a favourable light.
• Social identity theory: explain social comparison

  this is where negative out-group bias occurs, group members have a tendency to view all members of the out-group as the same and in an unfavourable light
• Realistic conflict theory: how does RCT explain prejudice

  through intergroup conflict, such as: conflict of interest, for resources, dominance or land
• Realistic conflict theory: what is the result of intergroup conflict?

  on-group favouritism and solidarity, as well as hostility towards members of the out-group
• Realistic conflict theory: how can we reduce intergroup conflict?

  by introducing a superordinate goal
• Social impact theory: what is the source?

  the person doing the influencing
• Social impact theory: what is the target?

  the person being influenced
• Social impact theory: what are the social forces?

  strength, immediacy and number
• Social impact theory: explain the social force of strength


  the perceived power or authority of the source, this can be affected by factors such as age and socio-economic status
• Social impact theory: explain the social force of immediacy


  this is the closeness of the source and target in terms of space and time
• Social impact theory: explain the social force of number 


  this relates to the number of sources present during an interaction
• Social impact theory: what is the multiplicative effect?

  as the SIN increases, so does the social impact, but only up to a certain point, this is called the psychosocial law
• Social impact theory: explain the division of impact


  this is where the number of targets to be influenced affects the impact of the source
• Social impact theory: how can Milgram's variations be used to support this theory?

  when orders were given over the phone in variation 7, participants were less likely to obey as the immediacy of the source had weakened
• Social impact theory: who counter argued Milrgam's support for this theory?

  Hofling, as he found that although participants were directed over the phone and didn't have the immediacy of the source, the obedience was still high