Obedience: Dispositional explanation

Question 1

What are the characteristics of the authoritarian personality?

Answer 1

highly obedient to those in authority
submissive to people of higher status
dismissive of those deemed to be inferior
have very conservative views on sex, race and gender
distinct cognitive style (the world is black and white / right or wrong)
believe we need strong and powerful leaders to promote traditional values such as love of country, religion and family.

Question 2

What are the origins of the authoritarian personality?

Answer 2

harsh upbringing
little love
punishment
strong discipline
high standards 
conditional love    leads to fear of parents       leads to      Excessively respectful of authority figures
or

harsh upbringing
little love
punishment
strong discipline
high standards
conditional love leads to hatred of parents leads to Hate and anger displaced onto others they perceive as weaker/belong a different social group ’scapegoating’
Based on Sigmund Freud’s idea that the adult personality is determined by childhood experiences (psychodynamic approach)

Question 3

What is the F Scale?

Answer 3

Adorno et al. (1950) developed a questionnaire called the California F scale, to measure levels of authoritarian personality. 3 - 4.5 was an ‘appropriate’ score for the average American (in 1950).

Question 4

What are the strengths of dispositional explanations for obedience?

Answer 4

+Explains the mindset of those who carried out/supported horrific acts by dictators or authoritarian states. E.g. Hitler’s Nazi Party, members of the SS etc.
+Milgram and his assistant Alan Elms (1966) conducted a follow-up study using pps who had taken part in Milgram’s original study. They found that those who were fully obedient and went all the way to 450 volts scored higher on tests of authoritarianism and lower on scales of social responsibility than those who defied the experimenter. These findings support Adorno’s claims although only a correlation could be determined.
+ A distal explanation. Explains the origin of certain kinds of obedience whereas other explanations (situational) only explain behavior as it occurs in the situation.

Question 5

What are the weaknesses of dispositional explanations for obedience?

Answer 5

• Counterpoint: Any explanation of obedience in terms of individual personality will find it hard to explain obedient behavior in the majority of a country’s population. It is more likely the population of Germany identified with the views of the Nazi party rather than having authoritarian personalities.
• Counterpoint: Elms and Milgram used Adorno’s F scale to determine levels of authoritarian personality. It is possible that the F scale suffers from response bias or social desirability, where participants provide answers that are socially acceptable. For example, participants may appear more authoritarian because they believe that their answers are the socially ‘correct’ and consequently they are incorrectly classified as authoritarian when they are not.
• Counterpoint: Middendorp and Meleon (1990) found that less-educated people are more likely to display authoritarian personality characteristics, than well-educated people. If these claims are correct then it is possible to conclude that it is not authoritarian personality characteristics that lead to obedience, but levels of education.