Explanations Of Obedience-dispositonal Explanations For Obedience Flashcards
What did Adorno et al (1950) aim to understand?
The antisemitism of the Holocaust
They believed high levels of obedience were pathological.
What is the main focus of dispositional explanations of obedience?
Internal personality characteristics
These characteristics are related to higher levels of obedience.
How is an Authoritarian Personality thought to develop?
As a result of strict/authoritarian parenting
This leads to resentment towards parents.
What is a consequence of an inability to express resentment in individuals with an Authoritarian Personality?
Displaced hostility towards subordinate individuals
This includes hostility towards ‘non-conventional’ individuals.
What are key characteristics of an Authoritarian Personality?
- High levels of hostility towards ‘non-conventional’ people
- Strong belief in social hierarchies and order
- Highly dogmatic and rigid views
What political ideology is linked to the Authoritarian Personality according to Adorno?
Fascism
This ideology involves extreme far-right views advocating for dictatorship and aggressive nationalism.
What does the F (fascist) scale measure?
The Authoritarian Personality
It assesses tendencies towards fascist attitudes.
True or False: People with an Authoritarian Personality tend to be less obedient.
False
They are said to have a tendency to be more obedient.
Fill in the blank: An Authoritarian Personality is characterized by a strong belief in the need for _______.
social hierarchies and social order
Research support by Elms and milgrim
When they asserted participants in real study using the f-scale they found that the obedient participants who went to 450v scored much higher on the f scale then disobedient participants who stopped before 450v
This suggest that irrespective of any situational factors some people will always be more obedient, due to internal personality traits making them more deferent to authority figures
Therefore validating the authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience
Methodological issues
Can’t measure traits
Relies heavily on self report methods of assessment such as the f-scale
Being subjective methods causes some to respond untruthfully or in a socially desirable way
So may appear less or more facist then they actually are dependant on what is socially acceptable
High levels of facism/having an authoritative personality and obedience are only correlational therefore drawing conclusions about whether having a more authoritarian personality with cause more obedience can be difficult to determine
Limitation-focus on the role of the individuals personality
Use this to explain certain people’s behaviour
Problem as we consider vast number of people may demonstrate obedience and yet it’s unlikely all have authoritarian personalities
So overlooks environmental/situational factors which may also cause obedient responses
E.g location of the request, the proximity to the authority figure or appearance of the authority figure
Likely both dispositional and situational factors interact so both need to be considered when attempting to explain obedience
