Dispositional explanation for obedience Flashcards
What does the Authoritarian Personality provide
a possible explanation for why some individuals require very little pressure to obey.
The Authoritarian Personality is a personality type characterised by:
Belief in absolute obedience
Submission to authority
Domination of minorities
Individuals with this personality type tend to be:
Rigid thinkers
See the world as black and white
Enforce strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies
what did Adorno et al (1950) see in these people
Adorno et al. (1950) saw people of this type as having insecurities that led them to be hostile to non-conventional people and having a belief in a need for power and toughness, which leads them to be highly obedient to authority figures.
when were these personalities shaped
shaped in early childhood by hierarchical, authoritarian parenting.
What was the F scale
The F scale was a questionnaire used by Adorno et al. (1950) to measure the different components that made up the authoritarian personality.
what did the F scale contain
It has 30 questions assessing 9 personality dimensions and contains statements such as:
“Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn”
“Rules are there for people to follow, not change”
What are two negatives of the F- scale
Although the F-scale has some research support, authoritarian individuals do not always score highly on all the dimensions as the theory would predict.
The F-scale suffers from response bias, as the scale is worded in a confirming direction. Therefore, individuals are encouraged to agree rather than disagree with items.
:( Dispositional explanations cannot explain obedience in entire societies.
For example, in pre-war Germany, millions of individuals displayed obedient, racist and anti-Semitic behaviour, despite the fact they must have all differed in their personalities. It seems unlikely that they all possessed an authoritarian personality. An alternative explanation is more realistic e.g. Social Identity Theory (German people identified with the anti-Semitic Nazi state; Jews became the ‘outgroup’)
Therefore a variety of factors need to be taken into consideration when explaining obedience.
What are two negatives of the Authoritarian Personality
The theory is politically biased, as individuals with an authoritarian personality are seen as only existing on the conservative, right wing of political viewpoints.
The social context is more important: Although Milgram accepted that there might be a dispositional basis to obedience and disobedience, he did not believe the evidence for this was particularly strong
