The authoritarian personality Flashcards
what is the authoritarian personality?
a DISPOSITIONAL explanation
based on someone’s personality (their disposition)
adorno argues this personality type was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority
submissive to those above them
dismissive to those below them
what did Adorno do?
carried out a questionnaire with over 2000 white middle class Americans in 1950.
He wanted to test out their personalities and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups.
This test was known as a ‘F scale’ and tested their potential for fascism.
what did Adorno’s F-scale find?
Adorno found that people who scored high on the F scale tended to be people who had very traditional views and were very aware of social status.
They are very respectful to people with a higher status than themselves and look down on those with a lower status.
They also found that these people tend to see people as either ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ and
they show hostility towards the ‘weak’ members of society.
what are the characteristics of the authoritarian personality?
Strong speaker- vocally
A lot of connections- supporters- a variety of different social classes, professionals, high/lower status people who looked up to him
Stubborn- very rigid in his belief and views
Well presented- clothing, uniform, appearance- didn’t wear his glasses
Hold authority- his supporters/workers were seen as intimidating to others
Organisation is key
Well planned and structured everything
Punishments/terrorise them OR reward them for obedience (lack of)
what is the origin of the authoritarian personality?
a harsh upbringing with little love and much punishment
leads to either fearing or hating your parents (unconscious hostility)
if you fear your parents, you will be excessively respectful of authority figures
if you hate your parents, you will displace your hate and anger onto others
what are strengths of the authoritarian personality?
research support - Elms and Milgram (1966) found a correlation between a high f scale score, and those who were fully obedient in milgram’s study
what are weaknesses of the authoritarian personality?
limited explanation as it doesn’t explain mass obedience when everyone’s personality is not the same eg nazi germany
f scale is self report data
leading questions
social identity theory
interviewer bias
not generalisable
not all prejudiced people have a harsh up bringing and vise versa
correlation not causation
what is social identity theory?
people identify themselves as belonging to a particular social group
people favour their in group over any out group
