a03 authoritarian personality

What is the study that supports authoritarian personality? How many ppt did he take? What did he find with the most obedient ppt? What is a counterpoint that they found?

Elms and Milgram

Interviewed 20 most obedient ppt and 20 defiant ppt.

Ppt asked to complete MMPI (personality questionaiire) and California scale.

Found obedient participants scored higher for authoritarianism.

Obedient ppt saw authority figure in Milgram study as a good person and learner as not so good

Most obedient ppt and characteristics that didnt fit with authoritarian prosniality (didnt glorify their fathers)

Suggest a.p might not work for ppts in Milgram study and maybe in general

What is a study that related education

The more education a person had the less likely they were to have an authoritarian personality

What is another limitation to do with right wing and left wing and f scale

Political bias

• f scale only measured tendency toward an extreme form of right wing ideology.

• Christie and JAHODA argued that F scale is politically biased interpretation of Authoritain personality

• Extreme right and left wing have a

What is the counterpoint to the political bias?

What did she find that f scale measures

What does it say for adornos theory

Stephanie suggest that the F scale actuall measures 2 elements submission obedience to and respect for all authorities

Traditionalism obedience to socially conservative authorities

Submission and traditionislm are strong in right wing authorities but only submission is strong in left wing authorities.

Means that submission is key element in authoritarian behaviour and therefore Adornos theory cannot explain all historical incidents of destructive obedience

What is an issue with authoritarian explanation

It might explain people who have an AP

Doesn’t explain why millions of people in Germany displayed obedient and racist and antisemtici behaviour

The numbers were very high so unlikely that all of them had AP

More likely that German people idnetified with antiseptic nazi state and scapegoated the out group of Jews which is a social identit approach

Suggest Adornos explanation is limited because there are better explanations of the holocaust that explain more issues

What did greensteins suggest was another issue with the F scale

A methodological issue is that its biased to people who select agree to the statements

Someone who has a natural tendency to select agree on questionnaires they they would be assessed as having an authoritarian personality

But a significant minority do have that tendency