Authoritarian personality

• What is the authoritarian personality?

  • People with these personalities believe in utter obedience and submission to authority
  • They also believe in conventional values
  • However, they are also likely to be cautious of people ‘lower in status’
  • Forms in childhood due to strict parenting where they would be exposed to strict discipline and harsh punishment as well
• What is the authoritarian personality part 2?

  • Failure to be loyal to parents would result in extreme criticism 
  • The child can’t release their feelings of frustration and resentment
  • They unleash it on 'inferiors' but show respect for those superior to them
  • Learning and imitation is how it is obtained
• Who and how identified the authoritarian personality?

  • Adorno (philosopher) used the F scale which contained statements like ‘rules are there for people to follow, not change’. 
  • Agreeing to these kinds of statements meant that you had an authoritarian personality 
  • People with this personality had rigid thinking with a white and black view of the world
  • They listened to every rule and hierarchy
• What is a supporting study of authoritarian personality?

  • Elms and Milgram (1966) did a follow-up study 2 months after the initial one.
  • They selected 20 defiant p’s and 20 obedient ones. Every single participant completed the MMPI scale (measures personality scales) and the California f scale to measure authoritarianism.
  • P’s were asked open-ended questions about attitudes to the experimenter and learner as well as their childhood.
• What were the findings of Elm and Milgram supporting study?

  • Researchers found little personality difference between the p's
  • The obedient p's did however have more authoritarian traits
  • Obedient p's had less close relationships with their father
  • They admired the researcher than learner
• What is a negative evaluation of authoritarian personalities?

  • It is unlikely that all the p's had harsh parenting and authoritarian personalities
  • Milgram found that differences in traits like some p's reported having good parental relationships rather than harsh ones
  • Therefore, there is more than dispositional factors affecting obedience
• What is another negative evaluation for authoritarian personalities?

  • Milgram did not believe that the evidence for dispositional factors was worthy.
  • For example, the obedience levels dropped to 10% when there were 2 other disobedient allies
  • The change of location from 65% to 48%
  • The change of uniform from 65 to 20%.
  • Findings show changing situational factors affects obedience levels
• What is a negative evaluation for authoritarian personalities?

  • Adorno used an authoritarian personality type to explain anti-semitic behaviour in Germany.
  • However, it is likely that not all people had this personality type.
  • Social identity is more appropriate as the German people identified with the Nazi state
  • They used the Jewish as a scapegoat instead.
  • The authoritarian personality may not explain real life obedience as a result then.
• What is a negative methodological evaluation?

  • There are methodological issues like using the F scale to assess personality type.
  • Questions are worded similarly with the same scale for scoring.
  • People in agreement every question may have just said ‘yes’ for every single one, not having an authoritarian personality.
  • Questionnaire had no filler questions - risk of demand characteristics
  • Lie detector questions - risk of social desirability bias.
  • Lacks internal validity