The theory of an authoritarian personality was an influential though controversial midtwentiethcentury theory to explain the mass appeal of fascism and ethnocentrism. Adorno, else frenkelbrunswik, daniel levinson, and nevitt sanford, researchers working at the university of california, berkeley, during and shortly after world war ii the authoritarian personality invented a set of criteria by which to define personality traits, ranked these traits and their intensity in any given person. The landmark 1950 study in social psychology the authoritarian personality represents a significant attempt to correlate rightwing political orientation with psychological or characterological dispositions. Personality characterized by extreme obedience to, and dependence on, a powerful leader or father figure. Authoritarianism and race attitudes in south africa department of psychology, university of cape toum andrew m.
Previous literature has indicated that chinese people have a high degree of authoritarian personality, which was considered a national character. The authoritarian personality was an attempt by a group of researchers to explain the conditions that allowed naziism to gain a foothold in europe. The authoritarian personality invented a set of criteria by which to define personality traits, ranked these traits and their intensity in any given person on what it called the f scale f for fascist. Is this consistent with the fact that the years between 1923 and 1933 saw an enormous rise in the level of antisemitism in huge sections of the german population. The integration of the two separate mediating models leads us to a more comprehensive model of political exclusionism, presented in fig. The frankfurt school and pathologization 159 of family relationships or, as in the case of fromm, the development of sadomasochistic and anal personality traits within the family and the development of oppressive social and economic structures. Adorno and his colleagues at the start of their classic 1950 study the authoritarian personality. The french political scientist maurice duvergers political parties 1951 is still highly.
Nevitt sanford, a central contributor to the authoritarian personality adorno et al. Authoritarianism and race attitudes in south africa. Trait theories of personality imply personality is biologically based, whereas state theories such as banduras 1977 social learning theory emphasize the role of nurture and environmental influence. Remarks on the authoritarian personality by adorno, frenkelbrunswik, levinson, sanford. The authoritarian personality book by adorno britannica. For a discussion of the prominent part that psychoanalytic theory played in this research see richard christie and marie jahoda, studies in the scope and method of the authoritarian personality glencoe, ill free press, 1954, pp. Authoritarian personality definition the authoritarian personality describes a type of person who prefers a social system with a strong ruler the authoritarian person is comfortable being the strong ruler but if the individual is not the strong ruler then he or she will demonstrate complete obedience to another strong authority figure. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. It is interesting that although the horkheimer group developed a very strong. Authoritarianism, perceived threat and exclusionism on the. Adorno brought to the research project a unique set of philosophical and social. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Although since criticised on grounds of methodology, the continuing relevance of its findings gave rise to a new edition in 2019. The authoritarian personality was first identified by adorno et al.
Zurbriggen2 1smith college 2university of california, santa cruz abstract the political correlates of the authoritarian personality have been well established by researchers, but important linkages to other. Authoritarian people, they argued, were more likely than others to harbor prejudices against lowstatus groups. Nevitt sanford 1950, was perhaps the first major work in political psychology to combine theoretical claims with methods similar to those 1. Three personality traits in particular characterize the syndrome. Jan 16, 2017 description and evaluation of the authoritarian personality. The authoritarian personality university of minnesota press. The other authoritarian personality university of kentucky. As a collaborator and coauthor of the study, theodor w.
Table 4 reports the authoritarian attitude differences between men and women. The other authoritarian personality bob altemeyer university of manitoba, winnipeg. Among the charges leveled against the book and its authors were that they had not taken into consideration racial, social and economic differences, which would have skewed the test results, and that the questions themselves were unfairly weighted to only allow agreement or. Authoritarian personality topics psychology tutor2u. Regarding explicit behaviors, chinese people usually show respect to and obey authority, which we call authoritarian orientation. May 01, 2017 the landmark 1950 study in social psychology the authoritarian personality represents a significant attempt to correlate rightwing political orientation with psychological or characterological dispositions. The authoritarian personality theory states that the roots of prejudice are formed in childhood. One of the most groundbreaking works in political psychology is adorno. Gender, sexuality, and the authoritarian personality bill e. The authoritarian personality is a psychological syndrome characterized by deference to authority, aggression toward outgroups, and strict adherence to cultural conventions. Pdf the authoritarian personality semantic scholar. Platypus remarks on the authoritarian personality by.
Authoritarian personality sociology of race iresearchnet. After that, the basic tenets of the authoritarian personality theory are discussed and critiqued. The authoritarian personality is a personality type characterized by extreme obedience and unquestioning respect for and submission to the authority of a person external to the self, which is realized through the oppression of subordinate people. Sanford, presented it, describe the contemporary influence of the concept and focus on possible implications for the study of nondemocratic regimes. In contrast to the bigot of the older style he seems to combine the ideas and skills. Critical theory, the frankfurt school, adorno and horkheimer, and the culture industries explained duration. These traits are accompanied by prejudicial, rigid, and tyrannical behavior against others, especially those who are inferior in rank, or vulnerable or weaker. In a dyad interaction, respecting and obeying those with high status authority is highly valued in chinese societies. Acquisition and significance of sextyping and sexrole identity.
The authoritarian personality the identification of a particular personality type, the authoritarian personality, provided a possible explanation for why some people require very little pressure in order to obey authoritarian personality. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Adorno, else frenkelbrunswik, daniel levinson, and nevitt sanford, researchers working. A huge crowd of ardent nazis fills the stadium on party day, while on the podium adolf hitler feasts on their adoration. Although this powerover, rather than powerwith paradigm like empire has seen its. Gender, sexuality, and the authoritarian personality.
The influence of the concept of authoritarian personality. Pdf the authoritarian personality in thailand researchgate. Rightwing authoritarianism, political affiliation, religiosity, and their. The authoritarian personality by the frankfurt school figure theodor adorno was a milestone in the medicalization of dissent, aside from considerably more aggressive efforts in the soviet union where communists like him had unlimited power.
Conceptually, the term authoritarian personality originated from the writings of erich fromm, and usually is applied to men and women who exhibit a. However, we believe that both these studies have underestimated the mediating role of perceived threat in the formation of exclusionism. The authoritarian personality, by theodor adorno, else frenkelbrunswik, daniel j. Before diving into the authoritarian parenting mindset, lets take a quick look at the pure, archetypical authoritarian personality as it was originally theorized by sociologist and philosopher theodor adorno. That the authoritarian answer for what causes obedience is. Projective questions in the study of personality and ideology the authoritarian personality, studies in prejudice series, volume 1. The authoritarian personality is a psychological syndrome of traits that correlates highly without group prejudice. As a very junior faculty member of harvards new department of social relations after the war, i. Description and evaluation of the authoritarian personality.
Sigmund freuds psychodynamic theory of personality assumes there is an interaction between nature innate instincts and nurture parental. Like milgram 1974, he too was jewish, and his work was also triggered by a desire to understand what lead to the atrocities committed during the holocaust and. Nevitt sanford, produced a monumental work that illustrated why ordinary germans were so caught up in nazi antisemitism and racism during wwii. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The other authoritarian personality bob altemeyer pull up from your memories those haunting, spectacular scenes of the nuremberg rallies. Authoritarian personality definition of authoritarian. The concept of employee voice is then combined with the authoritarian personality theory in order to provide a framework through which the political psychology of workplace democracy can be. As researches progressed, the authoritarian personality was found to reflect rightwing authoritarianism instead of being neutral altemeyer, 1998. The authoritarian personality studies in prejudice. Authoritarianism of the left and the right pdf free. The authoritarian personality hardcover import, 1950. The volume on the au thoritarian personality by adorno, frenkelbrunswik. In 1950, harper and row published a book that had all the earmarks of a blockbuster in the field of psychology.
Authoritarian personality, adorno and his coauthors 1950 described authoritariansas rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as black and white, and enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies. The launch of the authoritarian personality adorno et al. In short, the authoritarian personality was developed under specific social, cultural and historical contexts, and was also closely related to the ideologies of western political development. Authoritarianism adorno et al 1950 psychologyrocks.
Publication date 1950 topics authoritarianpersonalityadorno collection opensource. Authoritarianism was represented as a highly stable personality trait in both the original conception put forward by adorno, frenkelbrunswick, levinson, and sanford 1950 as well as the widelyused revision of the construct offered by altemeyer, 1981, altemeyer, 1988, altemeyer, 1996. A landmark study of the 60s countercultue era was a thousand page long volume, published in 1950, by theodore adorno, called the authoritarian personality. The authoritarian personality is characterized by a traditional attitude towards gender roles that reflects its conservative ideology t.
Pdf the concept of the authoritarian personality was developed in the 1950s by adorno amongst others in an attempt to explain the. The platypus affiliated society, established in december 2006, organizes reading groups, public fora, research and journalism focused on problems and tasks inherited from the old 1920s. The authoritarian personality is a 1950 sociology book by theodor w. Other articles where the authoritarian personality is discussed. Pdf in a dyad interaction, respecting and obeying those with high status authority is highly valued in chinese societies. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Adorno brought to the research project a unique set of philosophical and socialtheoretical concerns that were not always consonant. Abstract this article will briefly introduce the concept of authoritarian personality as its team of authors t. Publication date 1950 topics authoritarianpersonality adorno collection opensource language english. William morrow, the authoritarian personality new york.
In the conservative 1950s, the authoritarian personality was soundly debunked as poor science. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Table 3 shows the differences in the six factors of the authoritarian personality across the 1950, 1973, and current groups. The authoritarian personality, studies in prejudice series, volume 1.
Let us go back to that earlier volume and quote, from the english abstract, the. Authoritarian personality definition at, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation. And it is the institute which, in its huge joint volume on authority and the family in 1936, first raised on a major scale the question of the social role of authoritarianismthe authoritarian personality, the authoritarian family, and the authoritarian society. Subsequent work by the frankfurt institute merged with research at berkeley and produced the authoritarian personality 1950. The study of antisemitism and group prejudice in this country has been fundamentally affected by the monumental volume the authoritarian personality, published in 1950, which in the few years since its publication has become a kind of classic in american social science. Ccnumber 46 1 this weeks citation ciassic november. Canada ull up from your memories those haunting, i. The authoritarian personality in the 21st century bond university. The authoritarian personality according to theodor adorno. In milgrams original research, psychologists questioned whether the obedience occurred due to situational factors, for example, uniform and location, or dispositional factors, such as a particular personality characteristic. Adorno, else frenkelbrunswik, daniel levinson, and nevitt sanford, researchers working at the university of california, berkeley, during and shortly after world war ii.
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