Social Influence:
The authoritarian personality:
The Authoritarian Personality:
these personalities were rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as black
and white and enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies
they tend to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian parenting style like
physical punishments etc
as they grew up, they assumed that this system is the expected norm and because the
strong emphasis on obedience has transferred to adulthood through the process of
learning and imitation
The F Scale:
the California F scale or Fascist scale was developed in California in 1947 to measure
authoritarian traits and tendencies
people would display their level of agreement on statements such as ‘rules are for
people to follow, not change’ and ‘obedience and respect for authority are the most
important virtues children should learn’
a high F scale (strong agreement to such statements) was indicative of an authoritarian
personality
Right-wing Authoritarianism:
Robert Altemeyer (1981) refined the concept of the authoritarian personality to the
right-winged authoritarianism
they possess three important personality characteristics that predispose them to
obedience
1. conventionalism - an adherence to conventional norms and values
2. authoritarian aggression - aggressive feelings towards people who violate these norms
3. authoritarian submission - uncritical submission to legitimate authorities
in a study by Altemeyer testing the relationship between RWA and obedience,
participants were ordered to shock themselves when they made mistakes in learning
tasks
there was a significant correlation between a high RWA score and the levels of shocks
that they gave themselves
when the experiment was over, they were ordered to push the button which read ‘do
not push unless instructed’ to administer an extra shock as ‘punishment for not trying’
the level of RWA was irrelevant for this order as the majority of participants did as
they were told without question
Key study: Elms and Milgram (1996)
Aim - to test whether participants’ behaviour in Milgram’s original study emerged only under
specific situational conditions or whether it was dispositional
The authoritarian personality:
The Authoritarian Personality:
these personalities were rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as black
and white and enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies
they tend to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian parenting style like
physical punishments etc
as they grew up, they assumed that this system is the expected norm and because the
strong emphasis on obedience has transferred to adulthood through the process of
learning and imitation
The F Scale:
the California F scale or Fascist scale was developed in California in 1947 to measure
authoritarian traits and tendencies
people would display their level of agreement on statements such as ‘rules are for
people to follow, not change’ and ‘obedience and respect for authority are the most
important virtues children should learn’
a high F scale (strong agreement to such statements) was indicative of an authoritarian
personality
Right-wing Authoritarianism:
Robert Altemeyer (1981) refined the concept of the authoritarian personality to the
right-winged authoritarianism
they possess three important personality characteristics that predispose them to
obedience
1. conventionalism - an adherence to conventional norms and values
2. authoritarian aggression - aggressive feelings towards people who violate these norms
3. authoritarian submission - uncritical submission to legitimate authorities
in a study by Altemeyer testing the relationship between RWA and obedience,
participants were ordered to shock themselves when they made mistakes in learning
tasks
there was a significant correlation between a high RWA score and the levels of shocks
that they gave themselves
when the experiment was over, they were ordered to push the button which read ‘do
not push unless instructed’ to administer an extra shock as ‘punishment for not trying’
the level of RWA was irrelevant for this order as the majority of participants did as
they were told without question
Key study: Elms and Milgram (1996)
Aim - to test whether participants’ behaviour in Milgram’s original study emerged only under
specific situational conditions or whether it was dispositional
