Dispositional explanations- authoritarian personality

Question 1

What did Adorno think?

Answer 1

• Adorno wanted to understand the anti-antisemitism of the Holocaust
• high level of obedience was a psychological disorder
• bc of personality rather than situation

Question 2

what is authoritarian personality?

Answer 2

• people who:
• show an extreme respect for authority
• think society is ‘weaker’ than it once was so think we need a strong leader for guidance
• more likely to obey orders from a source of authority
• show contempt towards those with inferior status
• inflexible outlook on the world
• ‘others’ are responsible for ills of society

Question 3

how does the authoritarian personality develop?

Answer 3

• forms in childhood as a result of harsh parenting
• strict parenting, expectation of complete loyalty, severe criticism, high standards
• create hostility and resentment as a child
• fears are displaced onto those they perceive as weaker= scapegoating
• psychodynamic explanation

Question 4

Examples on the F-scale

Answer 4

• obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn
• there is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel great love, gratitude and respect for his parents

Question 5

Adorno et als. :procedure

Answer 5

• studied 2000 white men and their unconscious attitudes towards ethnic groups
• developed the potential for fascism scale=
  F-scale

Question 6

Adorno et al’s: findings

Answer 6

• ppl with authoritarian leanings identified with ‘strong’ people and contemptuous of the weak
• conscious of their status
• showed extreme defense and respect to those of higher status
• had a cognitive style, where there was no ‘fuzziness’between categories of people
• stereotypes about other groups
• positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Question 7

Evaluation strength: research support

Answer 7

• Milgram and Elms interviewed people in the original study that were fully obedient
• completed F-scale
• 20 obedient pp scored significantly higher on F- scale compared to 20 disobedient pp
• obedient people show similar characteristics to authoritarian people

Question 7

Evaluation limitation: limited explanation

Answer 7

• cant explain obedience in the majority of the countrys population
• much of pre-war Germany displayed obedient antisemitic behaviour
• they all had diff personalities
• unlikely they all had authoritarian personalities
• alt approach is:
• German people identified with anti sematic nazi state, and ‘scapegoated’ Jews
• social identity theory approach

Question 8

Evaluation COUNTER: research support

Answer 8

• analysed sub categories of F-scale
• found obedient characteristics have diff characteristics to authoritarians
• milgrams pp didnt glorify their fathers
• didn’t experience an unusual level of punishment in childhood
• didn’t have hostile attitudes towards their mothers
• link between obedience and authoritarianism is complex

Question 8

Evaluation limitation: political bias

Answer 8

• F- scale only measures towards an extreme form of right wing ideology
• Christie and Jahoda found the F-scale is politically biased
• reality of left wing authoritarianism in the shape of Chinese maoism
• extreme right and left wing ideologies have lot of similarities
• adornos theory isn’t a comprehensive dispositional explanation that accounts for obedience across the whole political spectrum