Dispositional explanations

• Characteristics of the authoritarian personality

  Extreme respect for authority

  Contempt for inferior social classes
• What are the two dispositional explanations?

  The authoritarian personality

  Adorno et al's research
• Origins of the authoritarian personality 


  Conditional love from primary caregivers

  Strict discipline
• Adorno et al's research

  Asked 2000 white middle class American males their unconscious attitudes to minority groups
• Adorno et al's research findings

  People who scored high on the F-scale had more authoritarian leanings and identified with 'strong people'
• Strengths of the dispositional explanation (F-scale)

  Research support - Milgram's interviews
• Weaknesses of the dispositional explanation (F-scale)

  Questions had a directional bias

  Political bias - only measures extreme right wing tendencies
• Weaknesses of the dispositional explanation


  Explains the actions for individuals rather than a majority