The authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience Flashcards
What are dispositional factors
- factors associated with an individual’s personality, rather than the situation that determines whether they will obey
- this theory states that the situation is irrelevant in making people obey - instead it’s our personalities that determine whether we will obey
what is a dispositional explanation
- A situational explanation of obedience focuses on the external circumstances rather than to the personalities of the people involved
- Social-psychological factors concern the influence of others on an individual’s behaviour, rather than external factors in the situation
- A dispositional explanation of behaviour highlights the importance of an individual’s personality
who studies the authoritarian personality
Adorno
why was Adorno interested the authoritarian personality
- was interested in investigating why Nazi soldiers were so willing to persecute and kill members of minority groups, such as Jews during WWII; could it be blamed on a personality trait?
- He claimed a particular personality type is more likely to obey an authority
- A high level of obedience is basically a psychological disorder
What was Adorno’s procedure
- investigated the causes of an obedient personality in a study of more than 2000 middle-class, white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups.
- They developed an ‘F’ scale to measure the relationship between a person’s personality type and prejudiced beliefs + to test his theory → F = Fascist - someone who believes in a totalitarian state rule by a supreme leader (dictator) who controls everything possible and treats people harshly → left or right side - politics
- participants who scored highly on this scale has what he called authoritarian personalities
what were Adorno’s findings
-ve Those who had scored highly on the ‘F’ scale identified with ‘strong’ people and were generally contemptuous of the ‘weak’.
-ve They were very conscious of their own and others’ status
-ve High scorers had a particular cognitive style
+ve there were no ‘grey areas’ between categories of people → liked being one thing or another
+ve They had fixed and distinctive stereotypes about other groups
+ve There was a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
+ve participants who scored highly on this scale has what he called authoritarian personalities
what is the authoritarian personality
- a distinct personality pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority
- The identification of a particular personality type, the Authoritarian Personality, provided a possible explanation for why some people require very little pressure in order to obey
what are the characteristics and associated behaviour of that characteristic of the authoritarian personality
- Rigid beliefs in conventional values –> Very traditional ideas – dislike of change and disorder
- General hostility towards other groups –> Has a dominating and bullying manner
- Intolerant of ambiguity – anything that cannot be defined in clear cut way –> Cannot tolerate behaviour that is ‘wrong’ in any way
- Submissive attitudes towards authority figures –> Respectful to authority figures → they like hierarchy of authority
what is the origin of the authoritarian personality
based on Sigmund Freud’s idea that the adult personality is determined by childhood experiences
what is the development of the authoritarian personality
A very disciplined upbringing
- Parents (particularly the father) are harsh and show little affection and issue severe punishments
Unconscious hostility
- They consciously have very high opinions of their parents but unconsciously feel very aggressive towards them
Displacement
- This hostility is displaced (moved on to) onto safer targets, namely those who are weaker and so are unable to hurt them
Prejudice
- This results in prejudice views and discriminatory behaviour
what is the +ve AO3 point for the authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience
Research support:
- Milgram and his assistant Alan Elms (1966) conducted a follow-up study using pps who had taken part in Milgram’s original study
- They found those who were fully obedient and went all the way to 450 volts scored higher on tests of authoritarianism and lower on scales of social responsibility - than those who defied the experimenter
- These findings support Adorno’s claims although only a correlation could be determined
- There’s a large body of evidence to indicate that people who are very rigid, conservative, and prejudiced have been brought up in the way that Adorno described, with a great deal of corporal punishment and little chance to express their own opinions
what are the -ve AO3 points for the authoritarian personality as an explanation of obedience
- limited explanation
- political bias
- methodological problems
expand on the -ve AO3 point, limited explanation
- Any explanation of obedience in terms of individual personality will find it hard to explain obedient behaviour in the majority of a country’s population
- In pre-war Germany, millions of individuals all displayed obedient, racist and anti-Semitic behaviour – they cannot all have had the same personality!
expand on the -ve AO3 point, political bias
- The ‘F’ scale measures the tendency towards an extreme right-wing ideology.
- However, in reality left-wing authoritarianism (e.g. Russian Bolshevism or Chinese Maoism) also emphasises the importance of complete obedience to legitimate political authority
- Therefore, Adorno’s theory is limited as it cannot account for obedience to authority across the whole political spectrum
expand on the -ve AO3 point, methodological problems
- The interviews were vulnerable to interviewer bias. As the interviewers knew the hypothesis of the study - they were aware of what information they needed to confirm it.
- Knowing the participants’ test scores meant that they knew in advance whether the interviewee was likely to have an authoritarian personality.
-Therefore their questioning would have been guided by this knowledge and they may even have recorded only the information they needed to confirm their hypothesis.
-ve Sample: all male and the research was done in America, so can the results be generalised?
-ve Does not explain why people are prejudiced towards some groups and not others
-ve Not all prejudiced people had a harsh upbringing (and vice versa)
-ve The attitude ‘statements’ in the scale are very limited (e.g. closed questions)
-ve Adorno only found that there was a relationship (correlation) between personality type and prejudice – this cannot show cause and effect
