Authoritarian personality

• Authoritarian personality


  A distinct personality pattern characterised by a strict adherence to conventional values and a belief in absolute obedience or submission to authority
• Authoritarian personality


  • Rigid thinkers
  • Obeyed authority
  • Saw the world as black and white
  • Enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies
• 1. F-Scale

  Measure of authoritarian personality (Adorno et al., 1950)
• People who scored highly on the F-Scale

  Tended to have been raised by parents who used a strict authoritarian parenting style
• Authoritarian personality is a dispositional explanation for obedience
• Right-wing Authoritarianism

   

  - Robert Altemeyer (1981) refined the concept of Authoritarianism by focusing on 3 of the original variables

  - He called this right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)

  - High RWA people possess 3 important personality characteristics that predispose them to obedience: conventionalism, authoritarian aggression and authoritarian submission

  - Altemeyer found a significant correlation between RWA scores and the level of shocks people were willing to give themselves
• KEY STUDY: Elms & Milgram (1966) - A03 support

   

  - Elms and Milgram carried out a follow-up study using participants who had previously taken part in the shock study

  - They selected 20 ‘obedient’ participants and 20 ‘defiant’ participants

  - Each participant completed a MMPI scale and the F-Scale, and answered a series of open-ended questions

  - They found higher levels of authoritarianism among ‘obedient’ participants

  - ‘Obedient’ participants also reported being less close to their fathers during childhood