Social Influence - Dispositional explanations

Question 1

How is the Authoritarian Personality measured?

Answer 1

Using the F-Scale which rates someone’s propensity to facism.

Question 2

What 3 characteristics does the Authoritarian Personality have?

Answer 2

Belief in obedience as being vitally important.
Respect of and submission to authority.
Domination of and contempt for minorities.

Question 3

What psychodynamic explanation did Fromm theorise for the Authoritarian Personality?

Answer 3

Childhood experience, caused by harsh parenting in childhood. They will respect authority figures in adulthood and displace their resentment on the weaker, minorities and the disadvantaged.

Question 4

What is a strength of the authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience?

Answer 4

Research to support it - Milgram gave F-scales to highly obedient ‘teachers’ from his studies and showed authoritarian personalities.

Question 5

What are the limitations of the authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience?

Answer 5

Incomplete explanation - doesn’t account for other personality variables in a population.
Political bias - ignores extreme left wing ideology which is just as authoritarian.
F-scale not accurate, some questions seem unrelated to AP and there may not be a way to report true opinions.