Dispositions explanations (obedience)

• Who conducted research to understand the anti-Semitism of the Holocaust?

  Theodor Adorno and his colleagues
• What did Adorno et al. believe about high levels of obedience?


  They believed it was a psychological disorder.
• What type of explanation did Adorno et al. provide for the Authoritarian Personality?


  They provided a dispositional explanation.
• What is a key characteristic of individuals with an Authoritarian Personality?


  They show extreme respect for authority.
• How do people with an Authoritarian Personality view society?


  They view society as weaker than it once was.
• What do individuals with an Authoritarian Personality believe is necessary for society?


  They believe strong leaders are needed to enforce traditional values.
• What attitude do people with Authoritarian Personalities have towards those of inferior social status?


  They show contempt for them.
• What is a characteristic of the worldview of individuals with Authoritarian Personalities?


  They have an inflexible outlook with no 'grey areas'.
• What process do children with Authoritarian Personality traits undergo due to harsh parenting?


  They displace their resentment onto others in a process known as scapegoating.
• What parenting style contributes to the formation of the Authoritarian Personality?


  Harsh parenting with strict discipline.
• What is the F-scale used for in Adorno et al.'s research?


  It measures the potential for fascism and Authoritarian Personality.
• How many middle-class, white Americans did Adorno et al. study in their research?


  More than 2000.
• What did Adorno et al. find about people with authoritarian leanings?


  They identified with strong people and were contemptuous of the weak.
• What cognitive style is associated with Authoritarian Personalities?


  They exhibit 'black and white' thinking with fixed stereotypes.
• What did Milgram and Elms find when they interviewed obedient participants from Milgram's studies?


  Obedient participants scored higher on the F-scale than non-obedient participants.
• What limitation did researchers find when analyzing the individual subscales of the F-scale?


  Obedient participants had characteristics unusual for authoritarians.
• What is a limitation of the Authoritarian Personality theory regarding the majority of a country's population?


  It cannot explain obedient behavior in the majority of individuals.
• What alternative view is suggested regarding the behavior of the German population during the pre-war period?


  They identified with the anti-Semitic Nazi state and scapegoated Jews.
• What is a criticism of the F-scale according to Christie and Jahoda?


  It only measures extreme right-wing ideology.
• What do Christie and Jahoda argue about left-wing authoritarianism?


  They argue that it exists and is similar to right-wing authoritarianism.
• What is a key feature of both extreme right-wing and left-wing ideologies?


  Both emphasize complete obedience to political authority.
• What are the main characteristics of the Authoritarian Personality?


  • Extreme respect for authority
  • Contempt for those of inferior social status
  • Inflexible worldview (black and white thinking)
  • Scapegoating of perceived weaker individuals
• What are the origins of the Authoritarian Personality according to Adorno et al.?


  • Forms in childhood due to harsh parenting
  • Features strict discipline and high expectations
  • Conditional love leading to resentment
  • Displacement of hostility onto weaker individuals
• What are the strengths and limitations of Adorno et al.'s research on Authoritarian Personality?


  Strengths:

  • Research supports the link between obedience and authoritarianism

  
  

  Limitations:

  • Cannot explain obedience in the majority
  • Politically biased (only measures right-wing ideology)
  • Complex relationship between obedience and authoritarianism
• Participants believed that they were taking part in a learning experiment where they had to teach someone vocabulary words using electric shocks as punishment when they made mistakes.
• Milgram's research question was whether ordinary people would be willing to administer potentially lethal electric shocks to another person simply because they were told to do so by an authority figure.