(NO AO1) the authoritarian personality

• social context is more important 


  Milgram accepted there may be dispositional explanation but not very strong

  • variations of social context (proximity, location, disobedient peers) were primary cause not personality
  • relying on authoritarianism lacks flexibility to account for variations
• Differences between authoritarian and obedient participants

  elms and milgram asked about upbringing

  • many fully obedient participants had good relationship with parents (not overly strict household associated with authoritarian personality)

  seems implausible with the large number of Ps who were fully obedient in Milgram that they all grew up in harsh environment with punitive father
• education may determine both authoritarianism and obedience


  less educated are consistently more authoritarian than well educated

  • milgram also found lower levels of education tend to be more obedient

  authoritarianism and obedience may be due to 3rd intervening factor
• F scale: social desirability and response bias


  participants may provide seemingly socially acceptable answers

  • may appear more authoritarian because they think those answers are more socially 'correct'
  • incorrectly classified