Disproportional Explanations for Obedience

Question 1

What is a disproportional explanation?

Answer 1

Personality factors / individual reasons of why someone obeys

Question 2

What did Adorno find in 1950?

Answer 2

A particular characteristic that people have - the authoritarian personality. When someone has this trait people are more likely to obey

Question 3

How is the authoritarian personality measured?

Answer 3

Using the F-Scale, it requires participants to rate the extent of their own agreement to certain statements

Question 4

What is the Authoritarian personality?

Answer 4

It’s when you believe that people should obey authority figures and suppress their own beliefs. They don’t challenge stereotypes due to their tendency of black and white thinking

Question 5

What theory did Adorno believe in?

Answer 5

Psychodynamic theory

Question 6

What is the psychodynamic theory?

Answer 6

Someones personality traits and attitudes as an adult stem from childhood influences. He found that when a child had harsh parents the child would displace their anger. On a surface level they would idolise their parents, but unconsciously they fear them The child is more susceptible to to target anger on those who seem weak and unable to defend themselves

Question 7

Give a - (MI)

Answer 7

There’s serious methodological issues as the scale is very bias, suggesting the F scale lacks in validity and reliability

Question 8

Give a - (APNIC)

Answer 8

Authoritarian personality may not be in all cases. This is because the F-scale measures likeliness between the individual and rights of policies