Dispositional explanations of obedience Flashcards
What is the dispositional explanation for obedience?
Authoritarian personality.
How does might is right contribute to authoritarian personality?
Adorno (1950) saw these individuals as having insecurities that led them to be hostile to non-conventional people and having a belief in the need for power or toughness which leads them to be highly obedient to authority figures.
How does upbringing contribute to an authoritarian personality?
Person is raised by strict and distant parents who punished them constantly for minor reasons. An individual learns from early childhood to obey people with more power and privileges.
What are the personality traits of someone with an authoritarian personality?
Respect authority figures
Submissive attitude
Rigid beliefs in conventional values
General hostility toward other groups
Intolerance of ambiguity
What is the F scale?
30 questions measuring 9 dimensions of personality. Readily identify who has an authoritarian personality and therefore highly obedient.
What is the research for authoritarian personality?
Milgram found that when he interviewed a small group of pts that had been highly obedient, these 20 pts scored higher on the F scale than 20 disobedient pts.
What is the alternative explanation to authoritarian personality?
Agentic state takes into account situational variables. Milgram’s variations took into account proximity, location and uniform.
What is a theoretical problem with authoritarian personality?
Middendrop and Meloen found that less-educated people are consistently more authoritarian and obedient. Therefore it could be levels of education play a role in obedience.
What are the practical applications of authoritarian personality?
Can explain why only certain personality types are prone to obeying orders. It explains why some people state upbringing ideals as to why they obey.
