Adorno and F-scale

• What is the F-scale?

  Questionnaire used to measure authoritarian personality by measuring the anti-democratic personality structure
• What are the categories of personality dimensions that are assessed?

  • conventionalism
  • authoritarian submission
  • authoritarian aggression
• When was it developed and by who?

  Adorno in 1950
• How does it explain obedience?

  Proposed people with a set of individual dispositions were more susceptible to prejudice against out-groups and obedience to authority figures
• What do people with authoritarian personalities exhibit?


  • rigid traditional beliefs
  • advocate for preservation of conventional norms
  • belief in punishment towards those who do not believe in those norms
• How is the scale set out?

  • 30 questions with a 6-point likert scale
• What is typical of those with high scores?

  Linked to stern parents and harsh upbringing