dispositional factors of obedience - authoritarian personality

Question 1

who identified the authoritarian personality?

Answer 1

Adorno

Question 2

what is the authoritarian personality?

Answer 2

a type of personality that is especially susceptible to obeying people in authority - also thought to be submissive of those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors.

Question 3

describe Adorno’s research.

Answer 3

• 2000 middle class white Americans.
• measured their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups.
• used the f-scale to measure different components of the authoritarian personality.
• people who scored highly had fixed sterotypes.

Question 4

why do people develop an authoritarian personality?

Answer 4

harsh parenting - strict discipline, expectations to be completely loyal, high standards, unconditional love for parents - even if the don’t agree
- these experiences create hostility and despair in the child, who displaces these feelings onto the ‘weak’.