Paper 1 - Social Influence - Topic 1 - Obedience: Dispositional Explanations Flashcards
What was the main focus of Theodor Adorno’s research?
Adorno and his colleagues aimed to understand the anti-semitism of the Holocaust
How did Adorno’s conclusions differ from Milgram’s?
Adorno believed that high levels of obedience were a psychological disorder, rooted in individual personality rather than situational factors
What is the Authoritarian Personality?
The Authoritarian Personality is characterised by extreme respect for authority and a belief in the need for strong leaders to enforce traditional values
What are the key characteristics of individuals with an Authoritarian Personality?
They show contempt for those of inferior social status and have an inflexible worldview, seeing things as either right or wrong
What is scapegoating in the context of the Authoritarian Personality?
Scapegoating is the process where individuals displace their resentment and hostility onto others perceived as weaker
What parenting style contributes to the development of the Authoritarian Personality?
Harsh parenting characterised by strict discipline, high expectations, and conditional love contributes to the development of the Authoritarian Personality
What did Adorno et al. Find in their 1950 research?
They studied over 2,000 middle-class, white Americans and developed the potential-for-fascism scale to measure Authoritarian Personality is characterised
What correlation did Adorno ET al. Find related to authoritarianism?
They found a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
What support did Milgram’s research provide for Adorno’s theory?
Milgram found that participants scored significantly higher on the F-Scale compared to disobedient participants
What is a limitation did researchers find in the F-Scale regarding obedient participants?
Obedient participants exhibited characteristics that were unusual for authoritarians, suggesting a complex relationship between obedience and authoritarianism
What is a limitation of the Authoritarian Personality theory in explaining obedience?
The theory cannot explain the obedient behaviour of the majority of individuals in a population, such as pre-war Germany
What political bias exists in the F-Scale?
The F-Scale only measures tendencies towards extreme right-wing ideology, ignoring left-wing authoritarianism
What critique did Fred Greenstein have regarding the F-Scale?
Greenstein called the F-Scale ‘a comedy of methodological errors,’ noting that response bias could lead to inaccurately high scores
