Obedience- Dispositional explanation

Question 1

What is dispositional explanation?

Answer 1

Any explanation of behaviour, highlighting the importance of personality

Question 2

What is the Authoritarian personality?

Answer 2

A personality type, especially susceptible to obeying people in authority

Question 3

Why did Adorno choose to study dispositional explanation for obedience?

Answer 3

To develop an understanding of the anti-Semitism of the Holocaust

Question 4

What did Adorno say people with AP see society like?

Answer 4

Society is weaker than it once was, so we need strong and powerful leaders to enforce traditional values

Question 5

How do people with AP view people of inferior social status?

Answer 5

Show contempt for those of inferior social status. People who are ‘other’ (ethnic group), are responsible for the ills of society- act as a convenient target for authoritarians

Question 6

What are the origins of the AP?

Answer 6

Formed in childhood, as a result of harsh parenting, including: extremely strict discipline, expectations of loyalty, high standards, severe criticism, conditional love. Fears displaced onto others (scapegoating)

Question 7

What was Adorno’s procedure when carrying out his research?

Answer 7

• Studied 2000 middle class White Americans, and their unconscious attitudes towards ethnic groups
• Developed F-scale to measure potential for fascism

Question 8

What were the findings from Adorno’s research?

Answer 8

• People with authoritarian leanings (high on scale- cognitive) identified with strong people and were contemptuous of the weak
• Conscious of status and showed extreme respect towards authority
• Positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Question 9

What are the strengths of the AP?

Answer 9

• Research support- Elms and Milgram

Question 10

What are the limitations of the AP?

Answer 10

• Unusual characteristics for AP
• Political bias
• Limited explanation
• Flawed evidence

Question 11

STRENGTH-
What research support is there for the AP?

Answer 11

Elms and Milgram- interviewed sample of OG, fully obedient participants (20). They scored significantly higher on F-scale than disobedient participants

Question 12

LIMITATION-
What evidence is there that research support may be inaccurate?

Answer 12

• Elms and Milgram- obedient participants had a number of unusual characteristics for AP

(Did not glorify fathers, did not experience high punishment in childhood, were not hostile towards mothers)

Question 13

LIMITATION-
How is the explanation for AP limited?

Answer 13

• Cannot explain behaviour in the majority of a country
• Pre-war Germany, millions displayed anti-Semitic behaviour. Unlikely all could have the AP BUT majority may have identified with Nazi-state in an SIT approach

Question 14

LIMITATION-
What evidence is there of political bias within the F-scale?

Answer 14

• Christie and Jahoda- F-scale only measures tendency towards extreme right-wing ideologies. Left-wing authoritarianism in the shape of Russian Bolshevism or Chinese Maoism

Question 15

LIMITATION-
How is evidence flawed for the AP?

Answer 15

• Greenstein calls the F-scale ‘a comedy of methodological errors’. Participants may select the middle option, or can purposefully get a high score from selecting agree answers (Response bias)