The Authoritarian Personality

Question 1

participants

Answer 1

2000

college students form the USA

other american white, non-jewish middle class people

Question 2

research methods used

Answer 2

case studies
psychometric testing (questionnaires)
clinical interviews

Question 3

who created this theory and when

Answer 3

Adorno 1954

Question 4

what did the clinical interviews look into

Answer 4

the situational aspects of their childhood

such as if they had been brought up by very strict parents

Question 5

what was included in the psychometric testing

Answer 5

questionnaires

used the F (fascism) scale

Question 6

what did the F (fascism) scale determine & give an example of an item on the fascism scale

Answer 6

a person’s likelihood to be an authoritarian personality

example from the F scale: ‘people can be divided into to distinct classes: the weak and the strong’

higher scores agree with the statements and mean a person has a more authoritarian personality

Question 7

what does the authoritarian personality suggest about adult personality and attitudes

Answer 7

they stem from childhood experiences

Question 8

what type of childhood did authoritarian personalities most likely have

Answer 8

they were dominated by strict parents who demanded absolute obedience and they offered conditional love

resulted in the defence mechanism of displacement

idolise parents but fear or loathe them at an unconscious level

causes obedience for those at a higher level but harsh for those considered socially inferior

Question 9

characteristics of the authoritarian personality

Answer 9

conventionalism
hostility to out-groups
intolerance of ambiguity
submissive to authority figures
belief that people can be divided into the weak and the strong
authoritarian aggression
obsession with ranks and status

Question 10

conventionalism

Answer 10

rigid beliefs in conventional values

suspicious of anyone who is different from the majority

Question 11

authoritarian aggression

Answer 11

belief that anyone who challenges authority should be dealt with in an aggressive way

Question 12

what can individual differences in obedience be explained by

Answer 12

the authoritarian personality

Question 13

are people with the authoritarian personality more likely to be obedient or disobedient

Answer 13

obedient

Question 14

what did Adorno propose about prejudice

Answer 14

prejudice is the result of an individuals personality type

deep-seated personality traits predisposed some individuals to be highly sensitive to totalitarian and antidemocratic ideas - more prone to be prejudicial

Question 15

what are people with the authoritarian personality likely to categorise people into

Answer 15

‘us’ and ‘them’ groups

see their own group as superior

Question 16

what research was the authoritarian personality based on

Answer 16

empirical

based on a research project where people who were believed to be highly authoritarian were interviewed

Question 17

how does it lack application

Answer 17

doesn’t explain how whole social groups can be prejudiced

e.g. the nazis

Question 18

sample

Answer 18

white middle class Californians

Question 19

problems with how the participants information on their childhood was gathered

Answer 19

retrospective data - drawn from their own recollections - authenticity of results cannot be certain - reduced validity