Obedience: Dispositional Explanations

Question 1

Adorno et al - Authoritarian Personality

Answer 1

1) Proposed an individual’s personality determines how obedient they are & whether they’re prejudiced towards others.
2) Argued some have Authoritarian Personalities which is:
–> highly obedient to authority figures.
–> submissive to ppl of higher status.
–> dismissive of those deemed inferior.

3) Believed high levels of obedience was a psych disorder.

Question 2

Origins of ‘A’ Personality

Answer 2

1) Forms in childhood - from strict disciplinary parenting (expectation of loyalty, impossibly high standards, severe criticism & conditional love).
–> Creates hostility in child who can’t express themselves (fear of punishment) & emotions are displaced onto the weak - ‘scapegoating’ (Psychodynamic explanation).

Harsh, punitive upbringing, little love –> either fear (excessive respect of authority) or hatred (hate & anger displaced on others) of parents.

Question 3

Adorno Study

Answer 3

1) Procedure:
–> Aim: Measured 2000 middle-class white Americans & their unconscious attitudes to racial groups.
–> Developed severe scales, including potention-for-fascism scale (F-scale) to measure ‘A’ Personality.

2)Findings:
–> Authoritarians who scored high on F-scale & other measures:
- were aware of their own social status.
- highly obedient to authority.
- conservative views on sex, gender, race.
- believe we need powerful leaders.
- dismissive of ppl deemed inferior.

Question 4

Strength of Adorno - Support

Answer 4

RESEARCH SUPPORT

1) Milgram & Elms conducted follow-up study using og pps - found those who went to 450V scored higher on tests of authoritarianism & lower on scales of social responsibility.
–> supports Adorno’s claims although only a correlation was determined.
–> suggests obedient ppl may share characteristics of ppl with Authoritarian personalities.

Question 5

Limitation of Adorno - Limited

Answer 5

LIMITED EXPLANATION

1) In pre-war Ger, millions displayed obedient, racist, antisemitic behaviour –> couldn’t have all had same personality –> seems unlikely that majority of Ger’s population had Authoritarian personalities, more likely that they identified with Nazi state –> Therefore social identity theory may be a better explanation (our behaviour & attitudes are strongly influenced by groups we identify with).

2) Explanations of obedience in terms of individual personality will be hard to explain relating to the majority of a country’s pop.

Question 6

Limitation of F-scale

Answer 6

RESPONSE BIAS

1) F-scale Response Bias - could tick agree on all & score HIGH on Autho –> Acquiescence bias (tendency to ‘agree’ with everything) - should be randomised so ‘agree’ doesn’t always lead in one direction –> SO, explanations of obedience based on research with F-scale may not be valid.

Question 7

Extra Criticisms

Answer 7

1) Sample - all male, Americans (can’t generalise)

2) Doesn’t explain why ppl are prejudiced towards certain groups and not others.

3) Not all prejudiced ppl had harsh upbringings (vice versa)

4) Attitude statements in F-scale are very limited (e.g. closed questions)

5) Measurements of authoritarianism relies on self-report data (F-scale) –> can be invalid due to social desirability bias.