P1 Social Influence: Topic 7: Dispositional explanations of obedience Flashcards
What do dispositional factors mean?
Some humans are more disposed/likely to be obedient than others due to their innate personality.
What is one specific example of a dispositional explanation of obedience?
The Authoritarian Personality.
What is the Authoritarian Personality theory?
It is defined as a distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and beliefs in absolute obedience or submission to authority.
What did Adorno use to measure the different components of personality that make up Authoritarian Personality?
During research in to German soldiers after WW2, and to understand anti-Semitism:
- He used a scale called the F (Fascist) scale.
What are traits of a person with Authoritarian Personality?
- Extreme respect for authority.
- Believing society is becoming weaker than it was, and so the need for strong powerful leaders.
- A love of country & family.
- Identification with strong people.
- Contemptuous (looks down upon) of the ‘weak’.
- Conscious of their own and others’ status.
- Show extreme respect and service to those of higher status, thus why they are obedient.
Where does the AP come from?
- Harsh, punitive parenting.
- Parents expect loyalty and have high standards.
- They criticize children for percieved failings and give conditional love.
Why does AP come about from strict, punitive parenting?
- Child feels resentment and hostility, but child cannot express feelings towards parents, due to fear of punishment.
- Their fears are displaced onto other, weaker members of society (inferior, minorities).
- Called the psychodynamic explanation.
What was Adorno’s Procedure for research using the F-Scale?
- Studied 2000 middle-class white Americans.
- F-Scale measured personality & unconscious attitudes to other ethnic groups.
What are some example questions on Adorno’s F-Scale?
- “Obedience & respect for authority are the most important virtues for kids to learn”.
- “Homosexuales are no worse than criminals and should be punished”.
What were Adorno’s findings from his research using the F-Scale?
Those with authoritarian personalities (high score):
- Identify with strong people & look down on the weak.
- Are conscious of their own satus in society and show extreme respect & service to those of a high status.
- Have ‘black and white’ thinking, people are good or bad.
Who did Milgram & Elms do in 1966 to support Adorno´s Authoritarian Personality?
- They interviewed 40 participants who had taken part in Milgram´s electric shock obedience study.
- 20 of these had been fully obedient (went up to full 450V) and 20 had been disobedient and had stopped during the study.
- All of them took the F-Scale.
What did Milgram & Elms find after inteviewing the participants?
Those that went up to the full 450V scored higher on the F-Scale than compared to the group of disobedient participants.
What is a counterpoint to Milgram & Elms findings?
- Researchers found obedient participants had characteristics unlike
´an AP´. - They didn´t glorify their fathers, or have a harsh/punitive parenting.
- This is an issue as it shows link between obedience and having an AP is complex.
- Obedience must be caused by other factors.
What is another weakness of Adorno´s dispositional argument?
In Nazi Germany the majority of people displayed obedient, racist and anti-Semitic behaviour.
- Unlikely majority of Germany´s population had an AP.
- More likely explanation is that the Germans identified with the Nazi State. (Situational).
- Situational variables such as uniform, legitimacy of authority, and agentic state are better explanations of obedience.
What did Christie & Jahoda argue (1954)?
- F-Scale measures tendency towards an extreme right-wing ideoligy.
- This is a politically biased interpretation of the AP.
