The authoritarian personality
- A dispositional explanation of obedience is one which is based on the characteristics of an individual e.g. some people are more likely to be obedient than others due to their personality traits
- Adorno proposed the concept of the authoritarian personality as an explanation of dispositional obedience and that this personality develops as a result of childhood experiences i.e. nurture rather than nature
- Adorno (1950) devised a questionnaire (known as the F-scale - ‘F’ being a rating of fascism) of more than 2000 middle-class, white Americans which was designed to reveal their attitudes towards other racial groups
- After analysing the results Adorno concluded that people with an authoritarian personality exhibit the following traits:
- They are more obedient than other people
- They respect social hierarchies and authority figures
- They are ‘black and white’ in their opinions and see the world in a rigid, inflexible way e.g. ‘Men should be real men and not show emotion’
- They are disdainful of anyone who shows ‘weakness’. E.g concientious objectors or people who are against the death penalty
- They look down on those whom they consider to be ‘beneath’ them in the social hierarchy e.g. people who are mentally ill, people who are homeless, people of a different race/ethnicity/culture to them
- They may feel resentment or anger towards authority figures (including their parents) but they take these feelings out on other, lower-status people e.g. someone who has a tyrannical boss may come home and shout at their partner because they cannot stand up for themselves at work
- Adorno suggested that the authoritarian personality forms during childhood as a result of having overbearing, dictatorial parents who do not allow or encourage free will, expression or freedom of choice in their children
- The parents of an authoritarian personality are likely to have exerted strong discipline at home, have high expectations of their children and exercise a version of love which is based on conditions e.g. ‘I’ll love you as long as you do exactly what I say and be the son/daughter that I want you to be’
- Adorno thought that the child of such parents described above learns these behaviours and attitudes, eventually identifying with them and thus the authoritarian personality is made
The authoritarian personality: do as I say, or else!
Exam Tip
Remember that Adorno’s F-scale is just that: a scale. It is possible that many people would score somewhere along the ‘fascism’ measurement without actually being a fascist! In other words, it is not necessarily a bad thing to have some respect for (some) sources of authority and if you are strident or clear in your views it does not make you a fascist with an authoritarian personality.
Evaluation of factors affecting obedience: Adorno’s theory
Strengths
- Adorno’s F-scale questionnaire is replicable as it uses standardised questions which means the theory can be tested for reliability
- Adorno’s theory is useful when applied to real-world situations/events and attitudes e.g. war, prejudice, racism
Weaknesses
- Using a questionnaire to obtain data is not 100% valid as people may lie, misremember details or be prone to social desirability bias
- Adorno’s theory is limited i.e. not everyone who is obedient has an authoritarian personality
Worked example
Here is an example of a question you might be asked on this topic - for AO3.
AO1: You need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key concepts, ideas, theories and research.
AO2: You need to apply your knowledge and understanding, usually referring to the ‘stem’ in order to do so (the stem is the example given before the question)
AO3: You need to analyse and evaluate key concepts, ideas, theories and research.
After each featured question there is a ‘model’ answer i.e. one which would achieve top marks in the exam.
Question: Briefly evaluate Adorno’s theory of the authoritarian personality. [3]
AO3 = 3 marks
Model answer:
- Adorno used a questionnaire (the F-scale) to measure the authoritarian personality which has some strengths: it is replicable due to the use of standardised questions; it generates quantitative data which is easily analysed and can be converted to percentages and graphical displays. Thus, his theory can be tested for reliability and consistency.
- However, there are limitations to the F-scale e.g. giving a yes answer always indicates an authoritarian response which may not be valid (i.e. no ‘shades of grey’) and does not allow any freedom in or flexibility of response.
- Additionally, there is no actual proof that an authoritarian personality causes high levels of obedience which means that the theory is vague and unsupported by evidence.
