Obedience- Dispositional Explanations
Key terms
Dispositional explanation- Any explanation of behaviour that highlights
the importance of the individual’s personality (i.e. their disposition). Such
explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations.
Authoritarian personality- A type of personality that Adorno argued
was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals
are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive
of inferiors.
The authoritarian personality
Adorno's procedure
- Studied over 2000 middle-class white Americans and their
unconscious attitudes to racial groups.
- They developed the f-scale (fascist scale), which is still used to
measure authoritarian personality.
Adorno’s findings
- People with authoritarian leanings (i.e. those who scored high on the
f-scale and other measures) identified with strong people and were
generally contemptuous of the weak.
- They were very conscientious of their own another status, showing
excessive respect, deference and civility to those higher status.
- Adorno also found that authoritarian people had a cognitive style
where there was a fixed and distinctive stereotype about other
groups.
- There was a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism
and prejudice.
Authoritarian characteristics
- Adorno concluded that people with in authoritarian personality tend
to be especially obedient to authority.
→ They show contempt for people they perceive as having
inferior social status, and have highly conventional attitudes
towards sex, race and gender.
Key terms
Dispositional explanation- Any explanation of behaviour that highlights
the importance of the individual’s personality (i.e. their disposition). Such
explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations.
Authoritarian personality- A type of personality that Adorno argued
was especially susceptible to obeying people in authority. Such individuals
are also thought to be submissive to those of higher status and dismissive
of inferiors.
The authoritarian personality
Adorno's procedure
- Studied over 2000 middle-class white Americans and their
unconscious attitudes to racial groups.
- They developed the f-scale (fascist scale), which is still used to
measure authoritarian personality.
Adorno’s findings
- People with authoritarian leanings (i.e. those who scored high on the
f-scale and other measures) identified with strong people and were
generally contemptuous of the weak.
- They were very conscientious of their own another status, showing
excessive respect, deference and civility to those higher status.
- Adorno also found that authoritarian people had a cognitive style
where there was a fixed and distinctive stereotype about other
groups.
- There was a strong positive correlation between authoritarianism
and prejudice.
Authoritarian characteristics
- Adorno concluded that people with in authoritarian personality tend
to be especially obedient to authority.
→ They show contempt for people they perceive as having
inferior social status, and have highly conventional attitudes
towards sex, race and gender.
