Authoritarian personality 8 marker

Question 1

Discuss the authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience (8 marks)

What it suggests

p1 - introduction

Answer 1

suggests that those with such personality are more likely to obey to certain authority figures.

Question 2

Key features of Authoritarian personality include:

p1 - point 1

Answer 2

The respect for submission towards acknowledged authority, the need for a strong leader with uncompromising power, and have a rigid black and white world view which resists creativity.

Question 3

What these features result in

p1 - point 2

Answer 3

result of extremely strict parenting during childhood. Harsh physical punishment and submission towards acknowledged authority figures may lead to the child developing into a more obedient adult.

Question 4

Reason why harsh physical punishment

p1 - point 3

Answer 4

Because if the child follows the parent without question, the child is less likely to develop their own self-esteem and so will want the need for authority to guide their actions later on in life.

Question 5

Support for this explanation

p2 - point 1

Answer 5

is discussed by Adorno. He got 2000 middle-class Americans to complete surveys concerning their personality and childhood experience. These measures were then compiled into the F- scale, which measured how authoritarian you were.

Question 6

What ardono found

p2 - point 2

Answer 6

Those who scored higher on this scale were more authoritarian and had similar strict childhoods and submission to parental figures.

This suggests those with this kind of upbringing and personality are more likely to obey due to early obedience towards their parents.

Question 7

Cultural bias

p2 - point 3

Answer 7

However, the F- scale questionnaire was conducted only on American participants. This suggests that the basis of the authoritarian personality explanation may be culturally biased, since the F- scale questionnaires used to measure it does not take into account the measures in other cultures.

-means the personality as an explanation may not be generalised to all cultures

Question 8

Taking into account situational factors

p2 - point 4

Answer 8

Which also affect the extent of obedience. Eg. agency theory discusses different autonomous and agentic states in which people are responsible for their actions.

Question 9

FInal adding onto situational factors

p2 - Final point

Answer 9

Since the authoritarian personality is a dispositional factor, it may not take into account situational factors like being told if you are responsible or not for certain actions when obeying.