Dispositional Explanation of Obedience

Question 1

What is a dispositional explanation of obedience?

Answer 1

Emphasis on the role played by the personality/disposition of the individual

Question 2

What is an authoritarian personality (AP)?

Answer 2

• Dispositional explanation of obedience
• Type of personality Adorno argued was susceptible to obeying people in authority
• Submissive to higher status, dismissive to inferiors

Question 3

Origins (AP)

Answer 3

• Formed in childhood from parents expectations of absolute loyalty, impossibly high standards, severe criticism, extreme punishment
• Conditional love which created resentment/hostility on the child
• Feelings are displaced: hatred/blame on inferiors

Question 4

Origins AP diagram

Answer 4

fear of respects
parents authority
——>
Harsh
upbringing
——>
hate hate on
parents to others

Question 5

Personality (AP)

Answer 5

• High value on traditional views (e.g family)
• View others different to them as inferior
• Rigid view about society
• View society as weaker than it once was, believe traditional values must be enforced

Question 6

F-scale

Answer 6

• Questionnaire, likert scale 5/6/7 point scale
• Adorno developed it as a measure of fascism, adapted by Altemeyer 2006 to the right wing personality scale
• Higher score=higher obedience
• High scorers very conscious of their status

Question 7

Issues and debates (AP)

Answer 7

Milgram claimed that social context (nurture) was more important than personality (nature) in determining obedience

Question 8

Research support (evaluation)

Answer 8

• Elms and Milgram 1966 found obedient subjects scored highly
• Some argue the link between authoritarianism and obedience is complex, may not be a useful predictor for obedience

Question 9

Limited explanation (evaluation)

Answer 9

• Only studied middle class white American males
• Millions may obey the same authority (e.g Nazi Germany) despite having very different personality types
• May be other factors that affect obedience

Question 10

Political bias (evaluation)

Answer 10

• Extreme form of right wing ideology
• Christie and Jahoda 1954 argue that extreme left wing ideology has similarities to right wing (both authoritarian)

Question 11

Methodology (evaluation)

Answer 11

Self report
Social desirability bias
Deterministic
Nature/nurture on its own may not be sufficient

Question 12

Other evaluation

Answer 12

• Not all prejudiced people had a harsh upbringing
• Correlation between personality type and prejudice, not cause and effect
• Doesn’t explain why people are prejudiced to some groups and not others