1. Personality and Politics-I Authoritarianism Michael Milburn Psychology 335

2. Authoritarianism—Group Discussion Background What is an experiment? Elements: –Manipulate IV and observe effect on DV –Random assignment to treatment conditions What are different kinds of IVs? Subject variables Manipulated variables What are different kinds of effects? Main effects Interactions What is an interaction? The effect of one variable is different for different levels of a second variable

3. Experimental Example Two IVs— –Gender (M/F) –Treatment (Insult/Praise) One DV: self-esteem How many main effects? Two—one for each independent variable How many interactions? One—one two-way (2x2) interaction

4. The “Fragile Male Ego” hypothesis—an interaction is predicted—males are affected more than females by the insult Self- esteem PraiseInsult Condition Females Males

5. Authoritarianism Group Discussion What are the central elements of authoritarianism? Punitiveness Deference to higher authority/punitiveness to those lower in status (authoritarian submission and authoritarian aggression)

6. Results Main effect for severity of crime Main effect for Authoritarianism (punitiveness) Authoritarianism by Status Interaction (authoritarian orientation toward authority) –High authoritarians more punitive toward low status than high status for same crime –Low auth more punitive toward high status than low status for same crime