Authoritarian Personality- Dispositional Explanation of Obedience

Question 1

Who proposed the Authoritarian Personality?

Answer 1

Adorno

Question 2

What is an Authoritarian Personality and what is it characterised by ?

Answer 2

A personality type causing high levels of obedience. It is characterised by traits such as:
- Extreme respect for authority
- Contempt for those that are “weaker”
- Belief in the need for strong, powerful leaders
- A fixed cognitive style, or a black-and-white worldview.

Question 3

How is an Authoritarian Personality formed?

Answer 3

In childhood, often as a result of harsh parenting. This causes hostility and resentment in the individual that they feel unable to communicate to their parents, and therefore displace onto those they view as weaker.

Question 4

How is the extent to which an individual has an Authoritarian Personality measured?

Answer 4

On the F-Scale, or ‘potential-for-facism’ scale

Question 5

How could the F-Scale be criticised? (2 Points)

Answer 5

• It is a self-report measure, which casts doubt on its validity
• It focuses on assessing extreme right-wing views, not extreme left-wing views, which is biased. However, both extreme right-wing and left-wing place similar emphasis on values that constitute an Authoritarian Personality, such as a belief in a strong leader, suggesting both should score highly on the F-Scale.

Question 6

Outline Adorno’s F-Scale Study

Answer 6

• 2000+ white middle-class Americans completed the F-Scale
• Those that scored higher and therefore possessed Authoritarian traits were far more likely to be prejudiced than those that scored lower

Question 7

What study supports the Authoritarian Personality as an Explanation for Obedience?

Answer 7

Milgram’s Baseline Procedure, as those that were fully obedient also measured high on the F-Scale

Question 8

What key characteristics of an Authoritarian Personality did Milgram’s participants not possess, suggesting its an oversimplified link and not an accurate predictor?

Answer 8

• Harsh childhoods
• Glorification of their fathers

Question 9

How could Adorno’s F-Scale Study be criticised?

Answer 9

He used a sample of all middle-class, white Americans

Question 10

How has the Authoritarian Personality expanded understandings of obedience?

Answer 10

It highlights the importance of dispositional factors, not just situational ones. Combining these factors provides a better and more holistic understanding of political and societal phenomena, as well as what causes obedience.