**L8 - Dispositional Explanations of Obedience

Question 1

what did ADORNO propose?

Answer 1

ADORNO proposed a DISPOSITIONAL EXPLANATION OF OBEDIENCE. Dispositional explanations of behaviour claim that INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONALITY TRAITS DETERMINE THEIR BEHAVIOUR, NOT SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES IN THE ENVIRONMENT.

ADORNO argued that AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES are MORE LIKELY TO OBEY AUTHORITY figures, this is because AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES contain a NUMBER OF TRAITS WHICH MAKE THEM MORE OBEDIENT

Question 2

what are the traits of authoritarian personality? CLD SHIP

Answer 2

(C) - CONFORMIST and CONVENTIONAL (e.g rule following)
(L) - LIKELY TO CATEGORISE people as us or them
(D) - DOGMATIC (intolerant of ambiguity)
(S) - SERVILE towards people of perceived HIGHER status
(H) - HOSTILE towards people of LOWER status (scapegoating)
(I) - INFLEXIBLE in their BELIEFS and VALUES
(P) - PREOCCUPIED WITH POWER

Question 3

why did ADORNO think people developed authoritarian personalities?

Answer 3

ADORNO thought that people DEVELOPED THESE PERSONALITIES DUE TO RECEIVING EXTREMELY STRICT PARENTING, USUALLY INVOLVING PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT.

This creates FEELINGS OF HOSTILITY which are DISPLACED ONTO WEAKER OTHERS who CANNOT FIGHT BACK AND ARE THEREFORE SAFE. They CANNOT TAKE THEIR ANGER OUT ON THEIR PARENTS because they FEAR THEM, so instead they REPRESS THEIR ANGER and ACT IN A SUBMISSIVE WAY TOWARDS THEM.

They then EXTEND THIS SUBMISSIVE BEHAVIOUR TO ALL AUTHORITY FIGURES

Question 4

how did adorno measure the authoritarian personalities?

Answer 4

ADORNO DEVELOPED A QUESTIONNAIRE to MEASURE THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES called the f (FASCISM) scale, pps are asked to RATE HOW MUCH THEY AGREE with statements in REGARDS TO AUTHORITY and based on their answers their PERSONALITY IS DETERMINED

Question 5

+ MILLER

Answer 5

MILLER found that people who SCORED HIGHLY ON THE F SCALE were MORE LIKELY TO OBEY AN ORDER to HOLD ONTO SOME ELECTRIC WIRING while WORKING ON AN ARITHMETIC PROBLEM, COMPARED TO PEOPLE WHO SCORED LOW ON THE F SCALE

Question 6

+ ALTEMEYER

Answer 6

ALTEMEYER ORDERED PPS to GIVE THEMSELVES INCREASING LEVELS OF ELECTRIC SHOCKS when they MADE A MISTAKE ON A LEARNING TASK - there was a SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION between those WILLING TO SHOCK THEMSELVES and HIGH SCORES ON THE F SCALE

Question 7

• situational variables

Answer 7

SITUATIONAL VARIABLES may be MORE IMPORTANT THAN DISPOSITIONAL ONES - MILGRAM has conducted SEVERAL VARIATIONS of his original experiments with vastly different results - obedience was 100% when Mr Wallace MADE NO NOISE however the obedience rate was 0% wen THERE WAS TWO AUTHORITY FIGURES WHO DISAGREED WITH EACH OTHER

Question 8

• dispositional explanations

Answer 8

DISPOSITIONAL EXPLANATIONS cannot explain OBEDIENCE IN ENTIRE SOCIETIES because AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES ARE NOT COMMON.

FAR FEWER THAN 65% of people have AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITIES so it CANNOT BE THE ONLY EXPLANATION for the level of obedience found in the ORIGINAL MILGRAM study

Question 9

• cause and effect MIDDENDORP AND MELEON

Answer 9

IT IS POSSIBLE that INSTEAD OF AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY CAUSING OBEDIENCE, A LACK OF EDUCATION CAUSES AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY AND OBEDIENCE

MIDDENDORP AND MELEON have found that LESS EDUCATED PEOPLE are MORE LIKELY TO HAVE AN AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY and MILGRAM found that PPS WITH LOWER LEVELS OF EDUCATION WERE MORE OBEDIENT