Social Influence- Obedience: Dispositional explanations Flashcards
Dispositional explanation -
Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual’s personality (i.e. their disposition). Such explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations.
Authoritarian personality -
A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors.
What did Adorno et al. investigate?
Adorno et al. investigated the causes of the obedient personality, focusing on unconscious attitudes toward other racial groups among middle-class, white Americans.
What is the F-scale?
The F-scale is a measure developed by Adorno et al. to assess the potential for fascism and authoritarian personality traits.
What are examples of items on the F-scale?
Examples include: “Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn,” and “There is hardly anything lower than a person who does not feel a great love, gratitude, and respect for his parents.”
What did Adorno et al. find about people with authoritarian leanings?
They found that such individuals identified with “strong” people, were contemptuous of the “weak,” and showed excessive respect and deference to those of higher status. They also had rigid cognitive styles with fixed stereotypes about other groups.
What are the characteristics of an authoritarian personality?
Authoritarian individuals are highly obedient to authority, show extreme respect for authority, are submissive, contemptuous of those with lower social status, and hold conventional attitudes toward sex, race, and gender. They view society as declining and prefer strong leaders to enforce traditional values.
What is the origin of the authoritarian personality according to Adorno?
Adorno argued that the authoritarian personality originates in childhood due to harsh parenting, characterized by strict discipline, high standards, severe criticism, and conditional love, leading to resentment and scapegoating of weaker individuals.
What did Milgram and Elms (1966) find about authoritarian personality and obedience?
They found a correlation between high F-scale scores and obedience in a small sample of participants, but this does not prove causation, as a third factor like education level could be involved.
Why is the authoritarian personality explanation limited?
It cannot explain why entire populations, such as pre-war Germany, displayed obedient and prejudiced behavior, as it is unlikely all individuals had authoritarian personalities. Social identity theory offers a more plausible explanation.
What are the methodological problems with the F-scale?
The F-scale is criticized for its one-directional wording, leading to potential acquiescence bias, where participants may agree with all items regardless of content. Additionally, Adorno’s interviews were biased because researchers knew participants’ test scores and the study’s hypothesis.
What is the political bias criticism of the F-scale?
The F-scale focuses on right-wing authoritarianism, ignoring left-wing authoritarianism (e.g., Russian Bolshevism or Chinese Maoism), making it an incomplete explanation of obedience across the political spectrum.
Why is the correlation between harsh parenting and authoritarian personality not proof of causation?
While Adorno found correlations between variables like harsh parenting and authoritarianism, correlation does not imply causation, meaning harsh parenting cannot be definitively said to cause authoritarian personality.
What does Greenstein (1969) criticize about the F-scale?
Greenstein describes the F-scale as flawed due to methodological errors, such as one-directional wording and the potential for acquiescence bias, which undermines its validity.
How does social identity theory challenge Adorno’s explanation?
Social identity theory suggests that obedience and prejudice, such as in Nazi Germany, can be better explained by group identification and scapegoating of outgroups, rather than individual personality traits.
