authoritiarian personality

• What is a dispositional explanation of behavior?

  It highlights the importance of the individual's personality.
• What is the Authoritarian Personality (AP)?

  A type of personality that is especially susceptible to obeying authority.
• What did Adorno argue about individuals with an Authoritarian Personality?

  They are submissive to higher status individuals and dismissive of inferiors.
• What was the aim of Adorno's research regarding the Holocaust?

  To understand the anti-Semitism of the Holocaust.
• How did Adorno's conclusions differ from Milgram's regarding obedience?

  Adorno believed high obedience was a psychological disorder rooted in personality.
• What characteristics do people with an Authoritarian Personality exhibit towards authority?

  They show extreme respect and submissiveness to authority figures.
• How do individuals with an Authoritarian Personality view society?

  They believe society is weaker and needs strong leaders to enforce traditional values.
• What is the outlook of individuals with an Authoritarian Personality towards uncertainty?

  They are very uncomfortable with uncertainty and see the world in black and white.
• What is scapegoating in the context of the Authoritarian Personality?

  It is the displacement of resentment onto weaker individuals or groups.
• What parenting style contributes to the formation of the Authoritarian Personality?

  Harsh parenting with strict discipline and conditional love.
• How do childhood experiences shape the Authoritarian Personality according to Adorno?

  They create resentment and hostility that is displaced onto others.
• What was the sample size and demographic in Adorno et al.'s research?

  More than 2000 middle-class, white Americans.
• What measurement scale did Adorno et al. develop to assess Authoritarian Personality?

  The potential for fascism scale (F-Scale).
• What correlation did Adorno et al. find in their research?

  There was a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.
• What did Milgram and Elms find in their study regarding obedient participants?

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

  Obedient participants had characteristics unusual for authoritarians.
• What is a limitation of the Authoritarian Personality explanation regarding obedience in a population?

  It cannot explain obedient behavior in the majority of a country's population.
• What alternative view is suggested regarding obedience in pre-war Germany?

  The majority identified with the anti-Semitic Nazi state and scapegoated Jews.
• What is a political bias limitation of the F-scale?

  It only measures extreme right-wing ideology.
• What did Christie and Jahoda argue about the F-scale?

  It is a politically-biased interpretation of Authoritarian Personality.
• What did Fred Greenstein criticize about the F-scale?

  He called it 'a comedy of methodological errors' due to response bias.
• What are the key features of the Authoritarian Personality?

  • Extreme respect and submissiveness to authority
  • Contempt for those of inferior social status
  • Inflexible worldview (black and white thinking)
  • Scapegoating of weaker groups
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Adorno et al.'s research on the Authoritarian Personality?

  Strengths:

  • Provides a dispositional explanation for obedience
  • Supported by Milgram's findings

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Limited explanation for obedience in large populations
  • Politically biased F-scale
  • Methodological flaws in the F-scale