This section delves into obedience to authority theory through the lens of Agency Theory, explaining how individuals act as agents within social hierarchies.

Vocabulary: Agentic shift refers to the transition from autonomous decision-making to following authority figures.

Definition: Agentic state occurs when individuals act as agents following orders, while autonomous state represents independent decision-making.

Highlight: The theory helps explain historical events involving mass obedience to authority figures.

Burger's study partially replicated Milgram's experiment to examine whether situational factors influence obedience to authority in the workplace and other contexts.

Example: Participants were given $50 and informed they could withdraw, with 70% continuing after 150V.

Highlight: The study included both genders and diverse ethnicities, addressing previous sampling limitations.

Quote: "70% continued after 150V, showing remarkable consistency with Milgram's original findings."

The original Milgram experiment investigated obedience to authority examples in everyday life through a controlled laboratory setting.

Definition: The experiment measured obedience levels through participants' willingness to administer electric shocks under authority's direction.

Example: All participants obeyed up to 300V, with 65% continuing to maximum voltage (450V).

Highlight: The study demonstrated how normal people might blindly obey authority figures despite moral reservations.

Various experimental variations explored different aspects of obedience to authority psychology examples, including telephone conditions and ordinary man scenarios.

Example: In telephone condition variations, obedience decreased to 20.5% when authority figure wasn't physically present.

Highlight: Participants often found ways to resist while appearing compliant, such as giving lower voltages or skipping questions.

Quote: "Nearly all protested but continued when given orders over the phone."

Social Impact Theory explores how individuals are influenced by others' actions, with the impact increasing as group numbers grow. The theory considers three key factors: strength, immediacy, and number of influencers.

Definition: Social Impact Theory examines how social forces affect individual behavior through multiple factors including source strength, immediacy, and number of influencers.

Example: The "looking up" experiment demonstrated social influence, where people stopped to look up when others did, particularly effective with 5-6 participants.

Highlight: The theory introduces the divisional effect concept, where social pressure is divided among multiple targets, leading to diffused responsibility.