dispositional explanations

• outline characteristics of the authoritarian personality


  • rigid thinker
  • obeys and respects authority
  • enforces rules and traditions
  • engages in scapegoating
• explain right-wing authoritarianism

  Altemeyer

  • personality could be cut down to conventionalism and aggression towards rule violators and those inferior
• where does the authoritarian personality come from?

  • strict and traditional upbringing
  • acquired through imitation in childhood
• how is the personality type measured?

  • F-scale: questionnaire made by Adorno
• evaluate the use of questionnaires

  + get rich, qualitative information

  
  

  x social desirability bias (answer favourably)

  x acquiescence bias (positive answer or agree)

  x demand characteristics (guess intentions)
• outline elms and milgram's study

  role of personality in obedience

  • 20 obedient and 20 disobedient participants
  • completed personality test and F-Scale
  • asked about family background and attitudes

  findings:

  • authoritarianism is higher among obedient participants
  • reported less close to fathers and strict parenting rules
• outline evaluation point 1 for authoritarian personality

  research support

  • Elms & Milgram - link between obedience and personality and childhood
  • correlation makes it difficult to draw conclusion
  • increases validity
• outline evaluation point 2 for authoritarian personality

  limited explanation

  • pre-war Germany - displayed anti-semitic behaviour but differed personality
  • alternative explanation is more realistic
  • social identity theory
• outline evaluation point 2 for authoritarian personality

  political bias

  • Christie & Jahoda - f-scale tends to be extreme form of right-wing ideology
  • not a comprehensive explanation
  • lacks generalisability