1. The Authoritarian Personality
Tuesday, October 1st, 2002
Joyce S. Pang

2. The Authoritarian Personality (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik,
Levinson, and Sanford, 1950), written in the aftermath of World War II,
was initially an effort to understand the events of the war-
Q: Is there a pre-fascist personality?

3. The F-scale Authoritarianism
History and development: from the A-S scale to the F-scale
Common thread running through F-scale items:
“a general disposition to glorify, be subservient to and
remain uncritical towards authority figures of the in-group
and to take an attitude of punishing out-group figures in
the name of some moral authority.”
Authoritarianism

4. Authoritarianism Aggression Conventionalism Anti-intraception
Obedience
and Submission
Cognitive
complexity
Authoritarianism
Threat
Intolerance of
ambiguity
Projectivity
and sex
Superstition
and stereotypy
Power and
toughness
Destructiveness
and cynicism

5. Intolerance of ambiguity The authoritarian’s cognitive style

6. Intolerance of ambiguity
Else Frenkel-Brunswik a.k.a. “ How a dog changes into a cat”
Gordon Allport
Key cognitive style of authoritarians
Intolerance of ambiguity
Authoritarians have impermeable
constructs!

7. Aggression and Obedience
Milgram’s Obedience experiments

8. Stanley Milgram Social psychologist
Wrote dissertation on conformity in France and Norway~influenced by Solomon Asch
Intense identification with fellow Jews who suffered during Holocaust
Published Obedience to authority in 1974, which has now been translated into 11 languages

9. The Experiment Teacher watches as “Learner” is strapped into place.
1 teacher (naïve subject), 1 “learner”(confederate), 1 experimenter
Teacher watches as “Learner” is strapped into place.
Teacher has to administer electric shocks of increasing intensity if learner is wrong or if he doesn’t respond.
Shock generator: from 14 to 450 volts; from left to right (Slight Shock, Moderate Shock, Strong Shock, Very Strong Shock, Intense Shock, Extreme Intensity Shock, Danger: Severe Shock [Two switches after this last designation are simply marked XXX.])

10. Conflict arises when the “Learner” begins to show that he is experiencing discomfort:
At 75 volts, he grunts;
at 120 volts, he complains loudly;
at 150, he demands to be released from the experiment;
At 285 volts, his response can be described only as an agonized scream.
Soon thereafter, he makes no sound at all.
Two examples:
Gretchen Brandt
Fred Prozi

11. “Right-Wing authoritarianism is an individual factor, a personality variable…developed on the premise that some persons need very little situational pressure to…submit to authority.”
Altemeyer, 1988

12. Altemeyer, 1981          Submission
(Right-Wing) Authoritarianism:
Submission 

Aggression
Conventionalism

  
 