Outline and evaluate the authoritarian personality explanation of obedience
The identification of the authoritarian personality provided a possible explanation for why some
people require very little pressure to obey. The authoritarian personality is a distinct personality
pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belied in absolute obedience
to authority.
The F scale, originally designed to assess fascism, was developed in California in 1947 as a measure
of authoritarian traits or tendencies. It was used by Adorno et al (1950) to measure the different
components that made up the authoritarian personality. It consists of a range of agree/disagree
statements, e.g. ‘obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should
learn’, which indicated their level of authoritarian personality. Adorno et al suggested that people
who scored highly on the F scale tended to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian
parenting style, which included the use of physical punishment. Therefore, if a person grows up in an
authoritarian family, with a strong emphasis on obedience, they are more likely to reflect these
values through learning and imitation. Those who possess an authoritarian personality are more
likely to:
- Obey and enforce strict rules of adherence to society
- Admire strong people
- Have conventional attitudes of race, gender and the weak
- Be concerned about their own status and admire those with a high status
- See everything in black or white
Robert Altmeyer (1981) was able to refine the concept of the authoritarian personality to 3 of the
original personality variables that he referred to as right-wing authoritarianism. Altmeyer suggested
the 3 key personality characteristics for an obedient personality are:
Conventionalism – to social norms and values (e.g. old fashioned values)
Authoritarian aggression – aggressive feelings towards towards people who violate social
norms (e.g. people against homosexuality)
Authoritarian submission – will obey anyone in a legitimate authority position (e.g. the
police, government, etc.)
Altmeyer tested the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism and obedience in an
experiment where participants were told to give themselves increasing levels of shocks when they
made a mistake on a learning task. There was a significant correlation between those who possessed
right-wing authoritarian values and the level of shocks they were willing to give themselves.
In a follow up study, Elms & Milgram (1966) used participants from Milgram’s original study: 20
‘obedient’ personalities (who went to max shock level) and 20 ‘disobedient’ ones (didn’t make it to
the end of the shock levels). They each completed a personality test (MMPI) as well as the F scale.
Additionally, they were also asked about their childhood, their feelings in the original study, etc. They
found little difference between the participants in the personality test, but, there was a greater
difference in the results of the F scale. They discovered that there were higher authoritarianism
levels amongst obedient participants as they saw experimenter in the room as admirable authority
figure.
Although, research strongly suggests that there is a link between an authoritarian personality and
obedience levels, it is possible that the participants could have been suspicious of whether the
shocks were real or not. Dambrun & Vatine (2010) attempted to overcome this issue by telling the
participants that they were in a stimulated environment and that the shocks weren’t real. Despite
this, the same patterns as Milgram’s experiment were evident. Furthermore, it still suggested a link
between right-wing authoritarianism and obedience.
The identification of the authoritarian personality provided a possible explanation for why some
people require very little pressure to obey. The authoritarian personality is a distinct personality
pattern characterised by strict adherence to conventional values and a belied in absolute obedience
to authority.
The F scale, originally designed to assess fascism, was developed in California in 1947 as a measure
of authoritarian traits or tendencies. It was used by Adorno et al (1950) to measure the different
components that made up the authoritarian personality. It consists of a range of agree/disagree
statements, e.g. ‘obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should
learn’, which indicated their level of authoritarian personality. Adorno et al suggested that people
who scored highly on the F scale tended to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian
parenting style, which included the use of physical punishment. Therefore, if a person grows up in an
authoritarian family, with a strong emphasis on obedience, they are more likely to reflect these
values through learning and imitation. Those who possess an authoritarian personality are more
likely to:
- Obey and enforce strict rules of adherence to society
- Admire strong people
- Have conventional attitudes of race, gender and the weak
- Be concerned about their own status and admire those with a high status
- See everything in black or white
Robert Altmeyer (1981) was able to refine the concept of the authoritarian personality to 3 of the
original personality variables that he referred to as right-wing authoritarianism. Altmeyer suggested
the 3 key personality characteristics for an obedient personality are:
Conventionalism – to social norms and values (e.g. old fashioned values)
Authoritarian aggression – aggressive feelings towards towards people who violate social
norms (e.g. people against homosexuality)
Authoritarian submission – will obey anyone in a legitimate authority position (e.g. the
police, government, etc.)
Altmeyer tested the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism and obedience in an
experiment where participants were told to give themselves increasing levels of shocks when they
made a mistake on a learning task. There was a significant correlation between those who possessed
right-wing authoritarian values and the level of shocks they were willing to give themselves.
In a follow up study, Elms & Milgram (1966) used participants from Milgram’s original study: 20
‘obedient’ personalities (who went to max shock level) and 20 ‘disobedient’ ones (didn’t make it to
the end of the shock levels). They each completed a personality test (MMPI) as well as the F scale.
Additionally, they were also asked about their childhood, their feelings in the original study, etc. They
found little difference between the participants in the personality test, but, there was a greater
difference in the results of the F scale. They discovered that there were higher authoritarianism
levels amongst obedient participants as they saw experimenter in the room as admirable authority
figure.
Although, research strongly suggests that there is a link between an authoritarian personality and
obedience levels, it is possible that the participants could have been suspicious of whether the
shocks were real or not. Dambrun & Vatine (2010) attempted to overcome this issue by telling the
participants that they were in a stimulated environment and that the shocks weren’t real. Despite
this, the same patterns as Milgram’s experiment were evident. Furthermore, it still suggested a link
between right-wing authoritarianism and obedience.
