Obedience: dispositional explanation

• What is the dispositional explanation?

  Any explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individual's personality.
• Who developed the authoritarian personality?


  Adorno et al.
• What did Adorno and his colleagues want to try and understand? What did they believe high levels of obedience was caused by?

  They, like Milgram, wanted to understand the anti-Semitism of the holocaust. They believed that high levels of obedience was basically a psychological disorder. They believed that causes of such a disorder lie in the personality of the individual rather than the situation (it is a dispositional explanation).
• What is the authoritarian personality?

  A type of personality that Adorno argued was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority.
• Describe the characteristics of people with an AP, some of which make them more susceptible to obeying orders from a source of authority?

  -They show extreme respect, and submissiveness, for authority.

  -Such people view society as 'weaker' than it once was and believe we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values such as love of country and family.

  -They show contempt for those of inferior social status which is fulfilled by their inflexible outlook on the world, for them there are no 'grey areas.' Everything is either right or wrong.

  -They view people who are 'other' (from a different ethic group) as responsible for the ills of society, making them a convenient target for authoritarians who are likely to obey orders from an authority figure even when those orders are destructive.
• How does the AP form according to Adorno?

  The AP forms in childhood, mostly as a result of harsh parenting. This parenting style typically features extreme discipline and impossible high standards. Parents give conditional love- love that is entirely dependent on how their child behaves e.g 'I will only love you if..' Adorno argued that these childhood experiences creates hostility/resentment in a child however as the child can't express these feelings directly, due to fear of punishment from a parent, their fears are displaced onto others who they perceive to be weaker (scapegoating). This explains their hatred to those who are considered to be socially inferior.
• Describe the research data that Adorno based his theory off? How did Adorno measure the AP?

  Over 2000 middle-class white Americans and their unconscious attitudes towards ethnic groups were studied. Adorno measured the AP on his 'F-Scale Quiz' (potential for facism scale). Participants had to rate their agreement with each item on a 6-point scale ranging from 1 (disagree strongly) to 6 (agree strongly).
• Give an example of items from the F-scale?

  'Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues for children to learn'
• What were Adorno et als research findings?

  People with authoritarian leanings, those who scored high on the F-scale, identified with 'strong' people are were generally contemptuous of the 'weak.' They were very conscious of their status and showed extreme respect to those of higher status- these traits are the basis of obedience. Adorno et al also found that authoritarian people had a way of perceiving people in which their was no 'fuzziness' between categories of people (black and white thinking). Adorno et al found a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice.
• AO3: strength, research support. What evidence from Milgram supports the AP?

  Milgram and Elms interviewed a small sample of people who had participated in the original obedience studies and had been fully obedient. They all completed the F-scale as part of the interview. These 20 obedient participants scored significantly higher on the F-scale than a comparison group of 20 disobedient participants. The two groups were clearly quite different in terms of authoritarianism. This finding supports Adorno et als view that those with high levels of obedience may well show similar characteristics to those who have an AP.
• AO3: limitation, counterpoint to Milgram and Elms research support. Describe how the link between obedience and authoritarianism is complex?

  When researchers analysed individual sub scales of the F-scale, they found that the obedient participants had a number of characteristics that were unusual for authoritarians. For instance, unlike authoritarians, Milgram's participants generally did not experience unusual levels of punishment in their childhood nor did they hold particularly hostile attitudes towards their mothers. This means that the link between authoritarianism and obedience is complex. The obedient participants were unlike authoritarians in so many ways that authoritarianism is unlikely to be a useful predictor of obedience.
• AO3: limitation. Explain how the authoritarian personality is a limited explanation for obedience?

  Authoritarianism cannot explain obedient behaviour in the majority of the country's population. For instance, in pre war Germany, millions of people displayed obedient and anti-Semitic behaviour. This was despite the fact that they must have differed in personalities in all sorts of ways. It seems very unlikely that they could all possess an AP. Therefore Adorno's theory is limited as an alternative explanation may be much more realistic.
• AO3: limitation, flawed evidence. What did Fred Greenstien say about the F-Scale?


  He called the F-scale 'a comedy of methodological errors' because it is a seriously flawed scale. For instance, it is possible to get a high score just by selecting 'agree' answers. This means that anyone with this response bias is assessed as having an AP. This reduces the internal validity of Adorno's findings, weakening the AP as an explanation for obedience.
• Who called the F-scale 'a comedy of methodological errors?'

  Fred Greestien- as it is a seriously flawed scale.
• Why did Fred Greestien call the F-scale 'a comedy of methodological errors?'

  Because it is a seriously flawed scale. For instance, it is possible to get a high score just by selecting 'agree' answers. Meaning that anyone with a response bias is assessed as having an AP.