dispositional explanations of obedience Flashcards
define the term dispositional explanation
any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individuals personality and these are often contrasted with situational explanations
who proposed the idea of the authoritarian personality?
Adorno
what did Adorno believe about unquestioning authority?
that unquestioning authority and having a high level of obedience was a psychological disorder and this can be caused by dispositional explanations
what is the authoritarian personality?
people with an authoritarian personality show extreme respect and submissiveness to authority. They also view society as weak so therefore believe we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values. They are more likely to obey authority than others. They believe those below them on the social hierarchy are inferior and everything is either right or wrong- there’s no uncertainty. Therefore people who are ‘others’ are responsible for the ills of society
where does the Authoritarian personality originate from?
Adorno believed that the personality forms in childhood as a result of harsh parenting. This parenting often features strict discipline and severe criticisms. Parents give conditional love and these experiences create hostility in a child. However the child cant express these feelings directly to their parents as they fear the consequences so they are displaced onto others who they perceive to be weaker
what type of explanation is the Authoritarian personality?
psychodynamic
what was Adornos research?
studied 2000 middle class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups. The researchers developed several scales, including the F scale used to measure Authoritarian personality. An examples of an item from the f scale is ‘obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn’. PPs had to give their level of agreement.
what were Adornos findings?
people with authoritarian leanings (scored high on f scale) were generally hostile towards the ‘weak’ and identified with ‘strong people’. They were conscious of their status and showed extreme respect for those of higher status. He also found that authoritarian people had a certain cognitive style in which there was no uncertainty and had fixed stereotypes of people. There was a string positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
what is a strength of dispositional explanations? (research support)
One strength is that there is evidence from Milgram supporting the Authoritarian personality. Milgram interviewed a small sample of people who had participated in his obedience studies and had been fully obedient. They completed the F scale and these 20 PPs scored significantly higher on the overall F scale than a comparison group of 20 disobedient PPs. This finding supports Adornos view that obedient people may well show similar characteristics to people who have an Authoritarian personality
what is a limitation of dispositional explanations? (limited explanation)
One limitation is that authoritarianism cant explain obedient behaviour in the majority of a country’s population. For example in pre-war Germany, millions of individuals displayed obedient and anti-Semitic behaviour. This was despite the fact that they must have differed in their personalities. It is extremely unlikely that they all had authoritarian personalities. This is a limitation because it means that Adornos theory cant be applied to all situations of disobedience
what is a limitation of dispositional explanations? (political bias)
The F scale only measures the tendency towards an extreme form of right wing ideology. Some psychologists argue that the F scale is politically biased and that authoritarianism can take the form of left wing ideology, for example Bolshevik Russia. Both sides emphasise the importance of complete obedience to political authority. This means that Adornos theory isn’t a comprehensive dispositional explanation that accounts for obedience to authority across the whole political system
