Adorno’s theory of the authoritarian personality

• What was the authoritarian personality?


  Some people have a strong respect for authority and look down on people of lower social status.
• What are the cognitive styles of people with this personality?

  Rigid stereotypes and dislike change heavily.
• Where does this mindset originate?

  In childhood.
• What can cause an authoritarian personality?

  Strict parents only showing love if children behave correctly, children internalise these values
• What is scapegoating? 


  Blaming somebody for something that has happened or someone else has done.
• What role does scapegoating play within this theory?

  Hostility is felt towards parents for being critical and is put onto those who are socially inferior.
• What is a negative evaluation of this study?

  Lack of support.

  Authoritarian personality is measured on the F-scale, which has a response bias, evidence is poor due to simplicity of F-scale.
• What is another negative evaluation of this study?

  Results are correlational.

  You can’t say that authoritarian personality causes greater obedience as there may be a third factor (extraneous variable) at play.
• What factors are explored by this theory?

  Dispositional factors (related to personality)