People who have an authoritarian personality show respect and submissiveness to authority. They view society as weak so we need powerful leaders to enforce traditional values. They are more likely to obey orders from a source of authority. They show contempt for those of inferior social status. There is no fuzziness and everything is either right or wrong and they are uncomfortable with uncertainty. People who are ‘other’ are responsible for the ills of society. They obey orders even when they could be destructive.
what was adornos study
2000 American white middle class men and their unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups.He measured this using the f scale.
he found that those who scored high on the f scale identified with string people and were contemptuous of the weak.
They also had fixed stereotypes about other groups.
what are the strengths for dispotional factors
Milgram and Elms collected 20obedient participants from the original study and made them complete the f scale. They scored highly compared to the 20 disobedient participants.
People who are obedient have similar characteristics to those as authoritarians
counterpoint
However those obedient people had unusual characteristics that authoritarians would have(notglorifying their fathers)
Therefore the link between obedience and authoritarians is complex.
limited explanation
in pre warGermany many people showed anti semitic behaviour. It is highly unlikely that they all have an authoritarian personality. Social identity theory works better as they could have identified with the antisemiticviews.
Alternative explanation is more realistic.
political bias
Christie and Jahoda argued that the f scale is a politically biased interpretation.They point out reality left wingauthoritarianism in the form of russian bolshevism and chinese maoism. In fact extreme right wing and left wing ideologies have a lot in common. They both show that you should obey political authority.
It does not account for obedience to authority across the whole political spectrum