The Authoritarian Personality
- Created by: hellostudents
- Created on: 09-06-20 13:16
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- The Authoritarian Personality
- The Authoritarian Personality
- The F Scale:
- The authoritarian personality is the identification of a specific personality type and provided a possible explanation for why some individuals require very little pressure in order to obey
- The F Scale where F stands for fascist was used by Adorno to measure the different components that make up the AP
- Adorno also found that people who score high on the F scale tend to be raised by parents with authoritarian parenting style
- Learning and imitation process
- Adorno also found that people who score high on the F scale tend to be raised by parents with authoritarian parenting style
- Contained statements such as 'obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn'
- If you agreed with these statements indicated an AP - rigid thinkers who obey authority, see the world as black and white etc.
- Right-wing authoritarianism(RWA):
- Robert Altemeyer refined the concept of the AP by identifying a cluster of 3 original personality variables that he referenda to as the RWA
- 3 important personality characteristics that predisposed them to obedience
- 1) Conventionalism -an adherence to conventional norms and values
- 2) Authoritarian aggression - aggressive feelings to people who violate these norms/values
- 3) Authoritarian submission - uncritical submission to legitimate authorities
- Tested the relationship between RWA and obedience in an environment where PP's are ordered to give themselves increasing levels of shock when they made mistakes on a learning task
- Found significant correlation between RWA scores and the shock level that PP's were willing to give themselves
- At the end of the experiment the PP's were told to press a button that gave a really long shock "as punishment for not trying"
- PP's level of RWA was irrelevant as many of them did as they were told
- At the end of the experiment the PP's were told to press a button that gave a really long shock "as punishment for not trying"
- Found significant correlation between RWA scores and the shock level that PP's were willing to give themselves
- 3 important personality characteristics that predisposed them to obedience
- Robert Altemeyer refined the concept of the AP by identifying a cluster of 3 original personality variables that he referenda to as the RWA
- The F Scale:
- Key study: Elms and Milgram (1966):
- Procedure: Follow up study using PP's who had taken part in Milgrams previous study
- 20 obedient PP's and 20 defiant PP's each completed the MMPI scale and the F scale to measure their levels of authoritarianism
- Also asked open ended questions including once about their childhood relationship with their parents and their attitude to the experimenter and learner
- 20 obedient PP's and 20 defiant PP's each completed the MMPI scale and the F scale to measure their levels of authoritarianism
- Findings: Found little difference between obedient and defiant PP's on MMPI variables however found higher levels of authoritarianism among those PP's classified as obedient
- Obedient PP's claimed that they were less close to their fathers during childhood and saw the experimenter as admirable and the learner as much less so
- Obedient group were higher on the trait of authoritarianism
- Obedient PP's claimed that they were less close to their fathers during childhood and saw the experimenter as admirable and the learner as much less so
- Procedure: Follow up study using PP's who had taken part in Milgrams previous study
- Evaluation
- Research evidence for the authoritarianism/ obedience link:
- Studies have reported that more AP PP's are more obedient in situations like Milgrams studies
- Dambrun and Vantiné overcame this problem by using an immersive virtual environment which is where actor takes the role of the learner which is filmed and displayed on a screen
- PP's are informed that experiment was a simulation and that the shocks and the victims are not real
- PP's still acted as if it was real and there was a clear and significant PP's RWA scores and the max voltage shock given to the victim Higher RWA = More obedient
- PP's are informed that experiment was a simulation and that the shocks and the victims are not real
- Dambrun and Vantiné overcame this problem by using an immersive virtual environment which is where actor takes the role of the learner which is filmed and displayed on a screen
- Studies have reported that more AP PP's are more obedient in situations like Milgrams studies
- The social context is more important:
- Although Milgram accepted that there may be a dispositional basis to obedience and disobedience even though the evidence was not "strong"
- Milgram shows that variations in the social context of the study were the primary cause of the differences in the PP's levels of obedience not variations in personality
- Specific social situations PP's found themselves in caused them to obey or resist regardless their personalities
- Basing obedience purely on authoritarianism lacks flexibility to account for these variation
- Specific social situations PP's found themselves in caused them to obey or resist regardless their personalities
- Milgram shows that variations in the social context of the study were the primary cause of the differences in the PP's levels of obedience not variations in personality
- Although Milgram accepted that there may be a dispositional basis to obedience and disobedience even though the evidence was not "strong"
- Difference between authoritarian and obedient participants:
- Elms and Milgram's research also presented some important differences in the characteristics of the AP and the characteristics of obedient PP's
- E.g when Elms and Milgram asked PP's about their upbringing many of the fully obedient PP's reported having a very good relationship with their parents
- Seems implausible that given the large number of PP's who were fully obedient the vast majority would have grown up in harsh environment with a punitive father
- E.g when Elms and Milgram asked PP's about their upbringing many of the fully obedient PP's reported having a very good relationship with their parents
- Elms and Milgram's research also presented some important differences in the characteristics of the AP and the characteristics of obedient PP's
- Education may determine authoritarianism and obedience:
- Research has generally found that less educated people are consistently more authoritarian than the well educated.
- Milgram also found that PP's with lower levels of education tended to be more obedient than those with a higher level
- This suggests that instead of authoritarianism causing obedience lack of education could be responsible for both AP and obedience.
- Possibility although even after educational level was statically controlled for in the Elms and Milgram study the more obedient the subject were still more authoritarian than the F scale
- This suggests that instead of authoritarianism causing obedience lack of education could be responsible for both AP and obedience.
- Milgram also found that PP's with lower levels of education tended to be more obedient than those with a higher level
- Research has generally found that less educated people are consistently more authoritarian than the well educated.
- Left-wing views are associated with lower levels of obedience:
- Altermeyer's reformation of the AP in therms of RWA suggests that people who define themselves on the right of the political spectrum are more likely to obey authority.
- Therefore people who define as left wing are characterised by lower levels of obedience
- Some support for this by Bégue carried out a replication of Milgrams study as part of a fake game show where PP's had to deliver electric shocks to other PP's
- Interviews using a questionnaire revealed that the more PP's defined themselves as left wing the lower the intensity of shocks they agreed to give the other PP's
- Suggests that situational context does not exclude the possibility of individual differences as determining influence in obedience
- Interviews using a questionnaire revealed that the more PP's defined themselves as left wing the lower the intensity of shocks they agreed to give the other PP's
- Some support for this by Bégue carried out a replication of Milgrams study as part of a fake game show where PP's had to deliver electric shocks to other PP's
- Therefore people who define as left wing are characterised by lower levels of obedience
- Altermeyer's reformation of the AP in therms of RWA suggests that people who define themselves on the right of the political spectrum are more likely to obey authority.
- Research evidence for the authoritarianism/ obedience link:
- The Authoritarian Personality
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