1. Political Psychology: Citizen Behaviors and Opinions
Lecture 3
Personality 1: Authoritarianism

2. Program What is personality? Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism and threat

3. Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism
What is personality?
Lecture 3
Personality 1: Authoritarianism

4. A general definition Personality:
Regularities of an individual’s behavior in response to diverse stimuli

5. Personality Unique to each person Relatively stable over time
Influences behaviors and thoughts

6. Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism

7. Authoritarianism Starting point: The Authoritarian Personality
Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson & Sanford (Berkeley)
1950

8. Authoritarianism conformity and conventionalism
submission and idealization of authority
hostility and aggression toward deviants
social, political and econ. conservatism
ethnocentrism
mental rigidity
ego defense
superstition
anti-intraception

9. Authoritarianism Sources:
oppressive, punitive and restrictive family rearing practices when they were growing up

10. Authoritarianism Criticisms:
the measure does not capture all forms of authoritarianism
the methodological faults of the concept’s scale
the reliance on non-representative samples
the refusal to consider alternative explanations

11. Authoritarianism, take 2
Renewal:
Robert Altemeyer
1981, 1989, 1996
a new mesure and a new explanation

12. Authoritarianism, take 2
3 dimensions:
authoritarian submission
authoritarian aggression
conventionalism

13. Authoritarianism, take 2
Examples of statements:
"Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn."
"We have to crack down harder on deviant groups and troublemakers if we are going to save our moral standards and preserve law and order."
"Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away a tour moral fiber and traditional beliefs."

14. Authoritarianism, take 2
Authoritarians:
support more illegal acts by governments
support less charters of rights and freedoms
are less sensitive toward the abuse of human rights by authorities
would impose more severe sentences to criminals
would impose less severe sentences to authorities
would impose more severe sentences to deviants

15. Authoritarianism, take 2
Authoritarians:
administer higher shocks in an experiment where they can choose the intensity level
are more ethnocentric
are more hostile toward homosexuals
would be more willing to participate in the elimination of radical groups
have a higher propensity to subscribe to traditional religious beliefs
tend to belong to the more orthodox or fundamentalist branches of religions

16. Authoritarianism, take 2
Authoritarians:
adhere to a great degree to traditional gender roles
are more conforming to social norms
have higher scores on a socio-political conservatism scale
have a greater tendency to vote for parties of the right
(when legislators) are more prone to be affiliated with parties of the right

17. Authoritarianism, take 2
Authoritarians:
tend to believe that there are many problems
are less able to detect false inferences
support to a greater extent contradictory ideas
are less demanding in the judgment of sufficient proof
are more vulnerable to the fundamental attribution error
have more double standards
are not conscious of their authoritarianism

18. Authoritarianism, take 2
How does one become authoritarian?
a little due to genetics
a little due to parents
a little due to friends
a lot due to life experiences

19. Authoritarianism and threat
Lecture 3
Personality 1: Authoritarianism

20. Authoritarianism and threat
Doty, Peterson and Winter, 1991:
two periods ( / )
social / political / economic instability first high than low
authoritarianism manifestations
drop of observed authoritarianism

21. Authoritarianism and threat
Andrew Perrin, 2005:
did 9/11 affect authoritarianism?
content analysis of newspaper letters from the public
one month before and after 9/11
climb of authoritarianism after

22. Authoritarianism and threat

23. Authoritarianism and threat
Karen Stenner, 2005:
normative threats are attacks on authorities, values, and norms
authoritarianism = qualities children should learn (surveys)
threat should increase impact of authoritarianism on intolerance

24. Authoritarian. & intolerance

25. Authoritarian. & intolerance

27. Auth. & intolerance & threat

28. Auth. & intolerance & threat

29. Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism
Conclusion
Lecture 3
Personality 1: Authoritarianism