Social Influence- Authoritarian Personality, Dispositional Obediance

Question 1

Whose idea was the authoritarian personality?

Answer 1

Adorno

Question 2

What was Adorno’s mission?

Answer 2

To understand anti-semitism displayed in WW2, unlike Milgram who suggested we are all capable of extreme obedience obediance

Question 3

What did Adorno argue?

Answer 3

High levels of obedience was a psychological disorder linked to personality.

Question 4

How did Adorno study personality ?

Answer 4

-in 1950s
-w/ questionnaire
-questionnaires were designed to show unconscious feelings towards minority groups
-after studying over 2000 Americans
-Adorno developed the F scale

Question 5

What did Adorno develop?

Answer 5

F scale

Question 6

What does the F stand for?

Answer 6

Fascism

Question 7

What was one of the 9 factors the question measured?

Answer 7

Authoritarian Aggression

Question 8

Authoritarian aggression

Answer 8

Tendency to be on lookout for, and to condemn, reject and punish people who violate conventional values

SUCH AS
“most of our social problems would be saved if we could somehow get rid of the immoral, crooked and feeble-minded people”

Question 9

What do the results suggest for people that score highly on the F scale?

Answer 9

-hose people show high respect for people w/ higher social status
-had fixed stereotypes for other groups

Question 10

People which scored highly on F scale, identified w/ what people?

Answer 10

-“strong “ people
-disliked “weak” people
-also were inflexible, w/ strong clear ideas of right and wrong

Question 11

What did ADORNO SUGGEST ABOUT THOSE WHICH SCORED HIGHLY ON F SCALE?

and what can this be linked to?

Answer 11

Adorno suggested that these people had their personality shaped early in life by strict authoritarian parenting w/ harsh physical punishments.

Freud’s work, Adorno suggested anger was displaced onto others, mainly minority groups

Question 12

Evaluative studies?

Answer 12

Elmes & Milgram
Altemeyer

Question 13

Is Elmes & Milgram a supportive study or critical study of authoritarian personalities

Answer 13

Supportive

Question 14

Elmes & Milgram

Answer 14

-Interviewed some of the Ps that had taken part in first 4 Milgram studies
-Found that those that had shocked to the full 450v scored higher on F scale than those that refused to continue

Question 15

What does Elmes & Milgram’s study show?

Answer 15

that Milgram’s research supports Adorno’s ideas

Question 16

Opposing statement to Elmes & Milgram’s study

Answer 16

-the finding is correlational
-may not be that people w/ authoritarian personalities then result in Ps being more likely to follow orders

-it could just be that people w/ lower incomes could be more likely yo follow orders and score highly on authoritarian personality questionnaires.

Question 17

Is Altemeyer a supportive study or critical study of authoritarian personalities

Answer 17

Supportive

Question 18

Altemeyer

Answer 18

-constructed a new rating scale to measure the Authoritarian Personality, called the
-RIGHT WING AUTHORITARIAN SCALE

Question 19

What did Altemeyer develop?

Answer 19

Right Wing Authoritarian scale

Question 20

What did Altemeyr’s Right Wing Authoritrain scale do and show?

Answer 20

Fix =ed many of them problems w/ Adorno’s F scale
-showed a consistent corrreelation between high schores on the RWA sclae and measures of prejudice between groups

Question 21

What does RWAS SCLAE DO ?

Answer 21

thi ssupports the concept of the existence of an authroitraian perosnalkity, and gives more valid evidence than Adornos work due to stronger questionnaire deigsn

Question 22

More evaluation:
Authoritarian personality can often be seen as what?

Answer 22

Left wing theory
-as it identifies many individuals w. conservative political viewpoint as having psychological disorder

Question 23

More evaluation:
What criticism can be argued about Milgram’s questionnaire design?

Answer 23

Response Bias

= original F scale questionnaire had all the questions written in one direction, meaning that agreeing to all questions will label someone as authoritarian (just might tick tick tick going down)

Question 24

More evaluation:
Criticism of the F scale questionnaire questions?

Answer 24

Some factors measured by scale, do not link to fascism, such as ‘an exaggerated concern for sexual goings on’