Authoritarian Personality

Question 1

Authoritarian personality

Answer 1

a type of personality that Adorno argued was very susceptible to obedient people. these people are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors.

Question 2

True or False: people with AP show an extreme amount of respect for authority.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

True or False: people with AP view society as ‘stronger’ than it once was

Answer 3

False

Question 4

What do people with AP think of those of inferior social status?

Answer 4

They think they are lesser than themselves.

Question 5

True or False: people with AP are very uncomfortable with uncertainty

Answer 5

True, everything is either right or wrong.

Question 6

When and why does Adorno think AP forms in a person?

Answer 6

In childhood - as a result of harsh parenting

Question 7

What are a few examples of the harsh parenting that causes AP?

Answer 7

extremely strict discipline,
expectations of absolute loyalty
Impossibly high standards
severe criticism of perceived failings.

Question 8

What feelings does Adorno think these techniques cause in children?

Answer 8

Resentment and hostility

Question 9

What does the child do when they can’t express these feelings and fears?

Answer 9

They displace them onto others who they think are weaker (scapegoating)

Question 10

What does scapegoating explain?

Answer 10

the hatred towards people who are considered socially inferior.

Question 11

What type of explanation is this?

Answer 11

It’s a psychodynamic explanation

Question 12

What was Adorno researching?

Answer 12

the causes of obedient personality

Question 13

What was the sample used?

Answer 13

2000 middle-class white Americans and their unconscious attitude towards other ethnic groups

Question 14

What was the procedure used?

Answer 14

-Developed several scales (including the F-scale)
-An example of an item from the F-scale is “Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn”

Question 15

What were the findings?

Answer 15

-People with authoritarian leanings (people who scored high on the F-scale) identified with ‘strong’ people and were generally contemptuous of the ‘weak’
- they were very conscious of status and showed extreme respect, deference, and servility to those of a higher
status
-Also found that people with AP had a certain cognitive style ( there is no ‘fuzziness between categories of people)
-Found a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Question 16

What is a strength of AP?

Answer 16

Research support
-Milgram interviewed a few people who had taken part in the original obedience studies and were fully obedient.
-They all completed the F-scale as part of the interview
-The 20 obedient participants scored significantly higher than a comparison group of 20 disobedient participants
-Supports Adorno’s findings that obedient people may show similar characteristics to people with AP

Question 17

What is a counterpoint of that strength?

Answer 17

-Researchers analysed individual scores of the F-scale and found obedient participants had some characteristics that were unusual for authoritarians.
-Means the link between obedience and authoritarianism is complex. The obedient participants were unlike authoritarians in so many ways that authoritarianism is unlikely to be a useful predictor of obedience.