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