- Unit 1: Social psychology
- Summary notes 54 pages
- Includes all topics from Edexcel specification (content, methods, studies, key question and practical)
- Includes exam-style answers as well as detailed A01 and A03
- 1.1.1 Theories of obedience: agency theory and social impact theory
- 1.1.2 Research into obedience, including Milgram’s research into
obedience and three of his variation studies.
- 1.1.3 Factors affecting obedience and dissent, including individual
differences (personality and gender), situation and culture.
Prejudice
- 1.1.4 Explanations and research into prejudice, including social
identity theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979, 1986) and realistic conflict
theory (Sheriff, 1966).
- 1.1.5 Factors affecting prejudice (and discrimination), including
individual differences (personality), situation and culture.
- 1.1.6 Individual differences in obedience/prejudice.
- 1.1.7 Developmental psychology in obedience/ prejudice
1.2 Methods
Self-reporting data
- 1.2.1 Designing and conducting questionnaires and interviews,
considering researcher effects.
- 1.2.2 Unstructured, semi-structured and structured interviews, open,
closed (including ranked scale) questions.
- 1.2.3 Alternate hypotheses.
Sample selection and techniques
- 1.2.4 Random, stratified, volunteer and opportunity techniques.
Qualitative and quantitative data
- 1.2.6 Analysis of qualitative data using thematic analysis.
Ethical guidelines
- 1.2.7 British Psychological Society (BPS) code of ethics and conduct
(2009) including risk management when carrying out research in
psychology.
1.3 Studies
,Classic study
- 1.3.1 Sherif et al. (1954/1961) Intergroup conflict and cooperation:
The Robbers Cave Experiment.
Contemporary study
- 1.3.2 Burger (2009) Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey
today?
1.4 Key questions
- 1.4.1 One key question of relevance to today’s society, discussed as a
contemporary issue for society rather than an academic argument.
- 1.4.2 Concepts, theories and/or research (as appropriate to the
chosen key question) drawn from social psychology as used in this
qualification.
1.5 Practical investigation
- 1.5.1 One practical research exercise
, Agency theory A01
Key terms: - Milgram observed that human society is hierarchal in
nature: With people on the bottom and a few on the
Hierarchal: system of
top who are giving instructions on how to behave.
social organisation that
is ranked from top to - He claimed this hierarchy evolved for survival
bottom functions: Societies that adopted this hierarchy
survived, and those that did not, died.
Socialisation: process by - He also claimed that this hierarchal social
which we learn rules and
organisation has a stabilising function - to create
norms of society through
social order and harmony within the group.
socialisation agents such
- Obedience within this social organisation is a
as teachers and parent
necessary feature to maintain it; without obedience
Autonomous state: acting there would be challenges to this social order
on one’s own free will resulting in chaos and societal breakdown.
Agentic state: when one
acts as agent for another - We are innately prepared to be obedient.
- Exposure to authority figures within family and
Moral strain:
education system, nurture this preparedness through
experiencing anxiety
the process of socialisation.
because you are asked to
- Parents - primary socialisers - use a system of
do something that goes
rewards and punishments to encourage obedience
against your moral
and discourage dissent from young children.
judgement
- Sanctions and rewards are institutional within the
Summary: Obedience has education system, and perform a large role in
evolved in order to provide ensuring development as subordinates.
social stability.
We are socialised to obey - Within the hierarchal structure of the social group,
authority figures from a there must be a mechanism that ensures obedience.
young age. We experience - Milgram proposed that humans exist in 2 different
moral strain when a states: autonomy and agency.
command from authority - Autonomous state - human acts according to their
conflicts our individual own free will. However when given instructions by an
moral judgements.
authority figure, human switches to agentic state of
In order to relieve moral
mind, where they see themselves as acting as an
strain: we have developed
agent for the authority figure.
two stages autonomous +
agentic. Switching from
- This anxiety is felt with moral strain as they consider
autonomous to agentic
state makes us feel we dissent and behaving in a way that contradicts what
aren’t responsible for they have been socialised to do.
outcome - The shift to agentic state relieves moral strain - the
individual displaces the responsibility of the situation
on to the authority figure, allowing them to reject
the consequences of their actions.
, Agency theory A03
A03: Milgram found that 65% of AO3: Agency theory is not credible
participants were willing to obey because autonomy an agency is
authority figures and cause serious very difficult to define and
harm to an innocent stooge Mr measure. Being in an agentic state
Wallace by electrocuting him which is an internal mental process that
supports the idea that we are cannot be measured directly instead
innately prepared to obey authority only inferred from someone’s
figures that are higher in the social behaviour. Since it does not have a
hierarchy than us. Milgram found physical presence, it cannot be
many showed signs of distress and objectively tested. Therefor agency
in the debrief reported that they theory is not internally valid
only obeyed because their behaviour
was the responsibility of the
experimenter thereby allowing
them to reject the consequences of
their actions to relieve moral strain
A03: Hofling found that 21/22 A03: Agency theory does not explain
American nurses broke the hospital motivational issues behind
policy and attempted to give a obedience. Social impact theory
dangerous dose of a drug to also provides a more complex
patients in a hospital after a stooge theory of obedience as it refers to
doctor called and instructed them specific social forces that increases
to do so. They justified their the chance of someone going into
behaviour as being due to the the agentic state for example
hierarchy of authority in the strength of source, immediacy of
hospital which supports the idea of sources and number
there being a system of social
organisation
Issues and debates: Issues and debates:
Milgram was attempting to Agency theory fails to explain why
establish that obedience was not a some individuals are more likely to
dispositional trait as historians obey than others whereas
suggested at that time but a personality theories such as locus of
consequence of a situation in what control does explain this by arguing
a person finds them self in. He that individuals with an external
describes obedience as an ingrained locus of control are more likely to
behaviour established through displace the responsibility and obey
socialisation. This behaviour those in authority
manifests as we are exposed to
authority figures under certain
environmental conditions
conductive to compliance such as
the closeness and status of an
authority figure
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