Authoritarian Personality Flashcards
What is the AP?
- Adorno argued that early childhood experiences shape adult personalities which may lead to extreme obedience in later life.
- He suggested that people with an ‘authoritarian personality’ tend to be extremely obedient.
-He argued that harsh and physical punishment led to the child feeling hostile and angry towards their parents. This hostility was uncomfortable for the child and created feelings of conflict, so it might be repressed or locked away into the unconscious mind.
-The child then displaces these hostile feelings on to others, often of a different racial group, which then become an alternative target for their hostility.
What is a limitation?
Adorno stressed the importance of a harsh environment in causing someone to develop the authoritarian personality. Elms and Milgram’s asked participants about their upbringing, many of the fully obedient participants reported having a very good relationship with their parent
. An alternative view is that genetic factors are important. McCourt et al. addressed this issue in a twin study, finding that when one MZ twin displays an authoritarian personality then there is an increased chance that twin two will display the same. Therefore, more research is required on the mechanisms behind the authoritarian personality.
