authoritain Flashcards
What is a dispositional explanation?
Internal explanation involving personality factors or individual reasons why someone obeys.
Who coined the term ‘authoritarian personality’?
Theodore Adorno
What is the F-scale used for?
To measure authoritarian personality traits by having participants rate their agreement to statements.
What is a characteristic of individuals with an authoritarian personality?
They believe people should completely obey authority figures and suppress their own beliefs.
What cognitive style do individuals with an authoritarian personality have?
A ‘fixed’ cognitive style that prevents challenging stereotypes and promotes absolutist thinking.
What does absolutist thinking entail?
Seeing things in black and white, with no grey areas for uncertainty.
According to Adorno, where do a person’s personality traits and attitudes stem from?
Childhood influences, particularly from parents.
What happens when a child has overly harsh and disciplinarian parents, according to Adorno?
The child may displace their anger onto seemingly ‘inferior’ others through scapegoating.
What is scapegoating?
Displacing anger onto those perceived as weaker or unable to defend themselves.
What is reaction formation?
A psychological defense mechanism where individuals idolize their parents but unconsciously fear and despise them.
How does reaction formation manifest in current politics?
By targeting displaced anger towards minority groups.
Fill in the blank: The F-scale requires participants to rate their agreement using a _______.
Likert-style scale.
True or False: Individuals with an authoritarian personality tend to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty.
False
