The Authoritarian Personality

Question 1

Describe dispositional factors in obedience

Answer 1

• Milgram believed there was a personality basis to obedience. In his study, there was a conflict in those who had a deep disposition not to harm others, but a strong tendency to obey authority.
• Some were driven by the former or the latter which led Milgram and others to explore the possible dispositional basis of obedience

Question 2

Describe fascism and link it to obedience

Answer 2

• Political ideology where a government is dictatorial and oppresses all criticism
• It is authoritarian in nature as it demands strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom

Question 3

What is the authoritarian personality?

Answer 3

Type of personality that Adorno argued was susceptible to obeying authority. Such individuals are thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive to inferiors

Question 4

What are characteristics of the authoritarian personality?

Answer 4

• Blind allegiance to conventional beliefs about right and wrong
• Respect and obedience to those in authority
• Project their own feelings of inadequacy, rage and fear onto a weak group.

Question 5

Describe the F scale

Answer 5

• Adorno developed the F-scale survey to see how prejudiced people were, the F stands for fascist
• The test was developed to help research into the authoritarian personality

Question 6

What was the aim of the F-scale?

Answer 6

To see if an authoritarian personality was the cause of anti-Semitism that lead to the Holocaust

Question 7

What were the results of the F-scale?

Answer 7

Those with an authoritarian personality identified with ‘strong’ people and looked down on the ‘weak’. They prioritised statuses, excessive respect, and were passive to those with higher levels of authority. They had fixed stereotypes and were prejudice of some groups

Question 8

What was the conclusion of the F-scale?

Answer 8

Those with an authoritarian personality are very obedient to authority, showing extreme respect and submissiveness

Question 9

Give evaluation for the authoritarian personality (research support)

Answer 9

• Milgram and Elm’s study supports the authoritarian personality as a factor influencing obedience
• They interviewed 20 ‘obedient’ and 20 ‘defiant’ participants and the obedient ones scored higher on the F-scale and they admired the authority influence in Milgram’s study, while the defiant didn’t. Suggests obedient individuals may have more authoritarian traits
• However, when results were analysed, they found obedient participants showed characteristics uncommon in authoritarian individuals. e.g. many ‘obedient’ participants reported good relationships. This discrepancy challenges the link between obedience and authoritarians

Question 10

Give evaluation for the authoritarian personality (social context)

Answer 10

• Social context is more important than personality. Milgram accepted that dispositional factors may have some influence on obedience, but believed situational factors were more significant in obedience
• e.g. in his proximity variations there were altered levels of obedience regardless of personality.
• Suggests that the authoritarian personality alone can’t explain obedience and a focus on situational factors may be appropriate

Question 11

Give evaluation for the authoritarian personality (large scale)

Answer 11

• Authoritarianism can’t explain obedience in the majority of a country’s population
• e.g. in pre-war Germany, millions displayed obedient and anti-semitic behaviour and it’s unlikely they all had the authoritarian personality. The social identity approach suggests it may be that Germans identified with the anti-semitic state instead.
• This suggests that the authoritarian personality may be limited when explaining large scale obedience.