dispositional explanations

• AO1 authoritarian personality

  • adorno argued personality that was susceptible to obeying people in authority 
  • individuals are submissive to people of higher status and dismissive of inferiors 
• how does a child develop an AP?

  • adorno argued that these childhood experiences create resentment and hostility in a child 
  • the child cant express these feelings directyy against parents as they fear punishment 
  • their fears are displaced onto others, who they percieve to be weaker (scapegoating)
  • which explains the hatred towards people considered to be socially inferior or who belong to other social groups 
• characteristics of an AP

  • these people show an extreme repsect and submissivness to authority
  • these people view society as 'weaker' than it once was, and believe we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values such as love for country and family
  • both characteristics make people with an AP more likely to obey orders from a source of authority 
• how are AP people more obedient

  • people with AP show contempt for those of inferior social status 
  • which is fuelled by their inflexible outlook on the world= theres no 'grey areas'
  • everything is either right or wrong and are uncomfortable with uncertainty
  • people without this outlook are responsible for the ills of society 
  • other' people are a convenient target for authoritarians who are likely to obey orders from authority figures even when orders can be descructive (Nazi Germany)
• what is the parenting style?

  • extremely strict discipline
  • expectation of absolut loyalty
  • impossibly high standards
  •  severe critcism of perceived failings 
• adornos research 1950

  •  more than 2000 middle class, white americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other ethnic groups 
  • F scale: used to measure the AP, participants had to rate each item on 6 point scale
• what was Adornos findings

  • people who scored high on the F scale and other measures identified with 'strong' people and were disrespectful of the 'weak'
  • people were very conscious of theirs and others status 
  • people showed extreme respect, consideration and servility to those of higher status 
• AO3 methodological criticisms

  • when determining authoritarian personality traits
  • f scale suffers from response bias or social desirability
  • participants appeared more authoritarian, they're answers were socially 'correct'
  • they're incorrectly classified as authoritarian
  • this reduces the internal validity of the questionnaire research when determining the degree of authoritarianism