The Authoritarian Personality Flashcards
Who created the F scale
Adorno
What is the Authoritarian Personality
A dispositional bias towards obedience
What sort of questions were part of the test for the F scale
‘rules are meant to be followed, not changed’, and agreeing with such statements would be indicative of the authoritarian personality
What characteristics make up someone with an authortarian personality
rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as black and white and enforced strict adherence to the rules and hierarchies
What did Adorno find about the childhood of those who rated high on the F scale
They were more likely to have been raised by parents using an authoritarian parenting style, in other words including the use of physical punishment. From childhood norms, children who grow up in an authoritarian family have a strong emphasis on obedience and acquire the same authoritarian attitudes
What are the three personality variables refferred to as right-wing authoritarianism
Conventionalism, Authoritarian Aggression and Uncritical Submission
Who developed right wing authoritarianism
Robert Altemeyer
What is the right wing authoritarian need for conventionalism
The need for strict adherence to norms and values
What is the right wing authoritarian personality trait of authoritarian aggression
Aggressive feelings to those who violate social norms
What is the right wing authoritarian personality trait of Uncritical Submission to legitimate authorities
Those with high RWA happily submit to legitimate authorities (duh)
How did Altemeyer test the relationship between right wing authoritarianism and obedience
Using an experiment where participants were made to shock themselves whenever they got a learning task wrong. Found a significant correlation between RWA scores and levels of shock the participants were willing to give themselves
What was the spicy endgame of Altemeyer’s experiment
There was a big red button with text telling the participant not to push it unless they were told to. When the experiment was over the particpants were told to push the button to administer an extra strong shock to themselves for not trying, and regardless of RWA scores participants did this without question
How did Milgram investigate dispositional factors in his study
He carried out a follow up study using participants who had taken part in Milgram’s experiment two months before. Selected 20 obedient who went up to max shock, and 20 defiant who refused at some point. Each took the MMPI scale, measuring personality variables, and the California F Scale to measure levels of authritarianism. Also interviewed on parents and attitude to experimenter and learner during study
What did Milgram find in his follow up research into dispositional factors
Little difference in MMPI (personality trait) variables between obedient and defiant participant, but did find higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient participants. They also reported being less close to fathers during childhood and more likely to describe them in negative terms. Obedient figures saw the authority figure as more admirable and learners less so
What did Milgram find in his follow up research into dispositional factors
Little difference in MMPI (personality trait) variables between obedient and defiant participant, but did find higher levels of authoritarianism in obedient participants. They also reported being less close to fathers during childhood and more likely to describe them in negative terms. Obedient figures saw the authority figure as more admirable and learners less so
If particpants didn’t actually believe they were administering shock’s, how would this impact research into authoritarian personality
If they didn’t believe they were giving shocks it would invalidate the results. Dambrun and Vatine overcame this issue by using an ‘immersive virtual environment’ where the ‘learner’ was filmed, recorded and played on a screen. Participants were informed that the shocks and reactions weren’t real, and despite this participants acted as if it were, with a high corrolation between RWA and max voltage administered, confirming a link between authoritarianism and obedience
Who used VR to provide evidence of a link between obedience and authoritariansim
Dambrun and Vatine
How is education linked with obedience and authoritarianism
Middendorp and Meloen found that education may determine authoritarianism and obedience. Milgram also found participants with lower levels of education were more obedient, suggesting that instead of authoritariansim causing obedience, lack of education could be responsible for both authoritarianism and obedience
Who found that education determines authoritarianism and obedience
Middendorp and Meloen, with Milgram also finding that those with lower levels of education were more obedient
What did Milgram believe was the primary cause of obedience, rather than authoritarianism
Believed context of study, such as proximity of learner and teacher or presence of obedient peers, were the primary causes of different levels of obedience. Believed that situational factors forced people to resist or obey no matter their personality, and so relying on authoritariansim as isolated reason for obedience is wrong
How do individual differences feed into the authoritarian personality
In Milgram’s research into dispositional factors, individual differences came up for obedient participants. For example, when asked about upbringing, many fully obedient participants reported good relationships with parents, rather then the overly strict family environemnt associated with RWA. It seems implausible that the large numebr of participants who were fully obedient all had a punitive father
