Obedience - dispositional explanations

• The Authoritarian Personality


  Like Milgram, Theodor Adorno and his colleagues wanted to understand the anti-Semitism of the Holocaust - however they concluded high levels of obedience was a psychological disorder or pathological.
• The Authoritarian Personality


  Adorno believed this disorder was due to the individuals personality rather than the situation - known as a dispositional explanation.
• Authoritarian personality and obedience 


  Adorno et al argued that people with an AP have extreme respect for authority and believe society is weaker than before - leads them to think we need strong leaders to enforce traditional values - these traits make them more likely to obey authority figures.
• Authoritarian personality and obedience (2)


  People with AP show contempt for those of lower social status and have a rigid view of the world seeing things as either right or wrong - leads them to blame ‘other’ groups for societal problems - makes them more likely to follow destructive orders from authority figures.
• Origins of the authoritarian personality 


  Adorno believed that AP develops in childhood due to harsh parenting - includes strict discipline, high expectations adn conditional love - this type of upbringing creates resentment and hostility in children who cant express these feelings towards their parents for fear of punishment.
• Origins of the authoritarian personality (2)


  Instead children will place their anger onto those they see as weaker (scapegoating) - this explains the hatred towards socially inferior people and contributes to obedience to authority forming a psychodynamic explanation.
• Adornos research

  Adorno et al (1950) developed their theory based on research data.
• Adornos research


  Procedure = they studied over 2,000 middle-class, white Americans to understand their unconscious attitides towards other ethnic groups - they created several measurement scales including the F-scale which measures authoritarian personality.
• Adornos research


  Procedure (2) = an example from the F-scale is: “Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn”.
• Adornos research 


  Findings = people with authoritarian tendencies (those who scored high on the F-scale) tend to identify with strong individuals and look down on the weak - they care a lot about social status and show extreme respect to those above them which contributes to their obedience.
• Adornos research 


  Findings (2) = Adorno also discovered that authoritarian individuals have a rigid way of thinking - seeing people in clear categories without any grey areas which leads to fixed stereotypes about different groups.
• Adornos research 


  Findings (3) = they found a strong link between authoritarianism and prejudice.