SOCIAL INFLUENCE - Dispositional Factors of Obedience - Authoritarian Personality

Question 1

Authoritarian personality AO1

Answer 1

• Adorno put forward a dispositional explanation of obedience, whereby an individual’s personality characteristics determine their behaviour, not situational influences in the environment
• Adorno argued that authoritarian personalities are more likely to obey authority figures as they have a collection of traits which make them more obedient (SHPICLD):
• Servile towards people of a higher perceived status
• Hostile towards people of a lower status
• Preoccupied with power
• Inflexible in beliefs and values
• Conformist and conventional
• Likely to categorise people as ‘us’ or ‘them’
• Dogmatic (intolerant of ambiguity)
• Adorno thought that people developed these personalities due to having a harsh discipline from parents during their upbringing, usually involving physical punishment
• This creates feelings of hostility which are directed towards weaker individuals who cannot fight back and are therefore safe
• People with an authoritarian personality cannot take out their anger on their parents because they fear them, so they act submissive towards them. This behaviour is extended to all authority figures
• Adorno developed the F scale to measure authoritarian personalities
• The F scale was tested on more than 2000 middle-class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups and found that there was a relationship between authoritarian personality and scoring highly on the F scale

Question 2

Who put forward the authoritarian personality theory?

Answer 2

Adorno

Question 3

What does a dispositional factor of obedience refer to/suggest about why we obey?

Answer 3

an individual’s personality characteristsis determine their behaviour, not situational influences in the environment

Question 4

What are the collection of traits that individuals with authoritarian personalities have? (SHPICLD)

Answer 4

• Servile towards people of a higher perceived status
• Hostile towards people of a lower status
• Preoccupied with power
• Inflexible in beliefs and values
• Conformist and conventional
• Likely to categorise people as ‘us’ or ‘them’
• Dogmatic (intolerant of ambiguity)

Question 5

Why do people develop an authoritarian personality according to Adorno?

Answer 5

• Adorno thought that people developed these personalities due to having a harsh discipline from parents during their upbringing, usually involving physical punishment
• This creates feelings of hostility which are directed towards weaker individuals who cannot fight back and are therefore safe

Question 6

What is the F scale?

Answer 6

The fascism scale is a questionnaire designed to measure authoritarian personalities. Participants are asked how much they agree with given statements.

Question 7

How did Adorno carry out the F scale study and what conclusions were made from it?

Answer 7

The F scale was tested on more than 2000 middle-class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups and found that there was a relationship between authoritarian personality and scoring highly on the F scale

Question 8

What are the strengths for the authoritarian personality as a dispositional factor for obedience?