Dispositional Explanation for Obedience

Cards (29)

  • What is a dispositional explanation of obedience?
    Based on individual characteristics
  • Who proposed the concept of the authoritarian personality?
    Adorno
  • What does Adorno's theory claim about personality development?
    It develops from childhood experiences
  • What side of the nature/nurture debate does Adorno's theory take?
    The nurture side
  • What is the F-scale used for?
    To measure the authoritarian personality
  • What does 'F' on the F-scale denote?
    A rating of fascism
  • What type of responses does the F-scale include?
    Fixed responses from 'Disagree strongly' to 'Agree strongly'
  • How many participants completed the F-scale in Adorno's study?
    More than 2,000
  • What demographic did Adorno's sample primarily consist of?
    Middle-class white Americans
  • What traits do people with an authoritarian personality exhibit?
    More obedient and respect social hierarchies
  • What was the purpose of the F-scale?
    To reveal attitudes towards racial groups
  • How do authoritarian personalities view opinions?
    They see the world in a rigid way
  • What do authoritarian personalities disdain?
    Anyone who shows weakness
  • How do authoritarian personalities treat those they consider beneath them?
    They look down on them
  • What parenting style contributes to the authoritarian personality?
    Overbearing and dictatorial parenting
  • What do authoritarian parents exert at home?
    Strong discipline
  • What type of love do authoritarian parents exercise?
    Conditional love
  • What did Adorno suggest about children of authoritarian parents?
    They learn behaviors and attitudes from them
  • Who replicated Milgram's original obedience study?
    Elms & Milgram
  • How many participants showed high obedience in Elms & Milgram's study?
    20 participants
  • What did high-obedience participants report about their fathers?
    They did not feel close to them
  • What feelings did high-obedience participants report towards the experimenter?
    Feelings of admiration
  • What relationship appears to exist according to Elms & Milgram's findings?
    Between childhood experience and high obedience
  • What are the strengths of dispositional explanations of obedience?
    • F-scale is replicable with standardized questions
    • Large sample size allows for reliability testing
    • Acknowledges role of dispositional factors in obedience
  • What are the limitations of dispositional explanations of obedience?
    • Data from questionnaires may lack validity
    • Responses may be influenced by social desirability
    • Theory is overly simplistic and deterministic
  • What is a potential bias in using questionnaires?
    They may include sources of bias
  • What can affect the validity of questionnaire findings?
    Participants may lie or misremember
  • What does the theory of authoritarian personality reduce personality to?
    A score on a scale
  • What does the theory of authoritarian personality determine about obedience?
    Specific traits lead to obedience