Adorno et al. (1950)

• Studied >2000 US students, mostly white and middle-class, developed scales to measure behavior/attitudes: anti-semitism, ethnocentrism, and fascism (F-scale); high F score - rigid thinking, 'black and white' worldview and strict social rule adherence
• Adorno et al.

  1950
• Authoritarian adults come from cold, hostile families with controlling parents insistent on high achievement and self-discipline; use affection withdrawal and physical punishment raise obedient children with a strong respect for authority
• Children raised by authoritarian parents often assume it reflects social norms; acquiring these attitudes through learning and imitation, they use defence mechanisms (e.g. displacement), pushing their hostile feelings onto others, e.g. a racial group