1- Dispositional Explanation The Authoritarian Personality

• Dispositional explanation


  Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual's personality (i.e. their disposition)
• Authoritarian personality


  A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive of inferiors
• Traits of the authoritarian personality

  • Hostile towards those of perceived lower status
  • Obedient/showed excessive respect towards people of perceived higher status
  • Had an extreme respect for authority
  • Were conformist
  • Were dogmatic – they were firm in their principles as undeniably true/assertive
  • Were prejudiced
• Origins of the authoritarian personality

  Formed in childhood as a result of a harsh parenting style featuring extremely strict discipline, impossibly high standards and severe criticism of perceived failings
• Strength of the authoritarian personality

  • There is research to support it
• Research supporting the authoritarian personality

  • Milgram and Elms (1966) found that fully obedient participants scored highly on the F-scale compared to disobedient participants
• Obedient people


  May share many characteristics of people with an Authoritarian Personality
• Weakness of the authoritarian personality

  • Adorno and colleagues measured correlations, but correlation does not equal causation
• Correlations found


  • Authoritarianism was strongly correlated with prejudice against minority groups
  • Harsh parenting style leads to authoritarian personality in adulthood
• Correlation between two variables does not mean one causes the other
• Be careful not to say people with authoritarian personality are "born like that" - it's a result of upbringing and socialisation
• Weakness of the authoritarian personality

  • It cannot explain obedience in entire societies
• Obedience in pre-war Germany

  • Millions displayed obedient, racist and anti-Semitic behaviour despite varying personalities
  • Social identity may be more realistic in explaining obedience - majority identified with anti-Semitic Nazi state
• The majority of a whole population are unlikely to have all the negative traits of an authoritarian personality
• Weakness of the authoritarian personality

  • It is based on a flawed methodology
• Flaws in the F-scale


  • Every item is worded in the same 'direction', allowing people to score highly just by agreeing with everything (acquiescence)
• The flaws in the F-scale threaten the validity of Adorno's findings