Adornos Theory

After World War II, the question of what makes people obey and follow unethical leaders like Hitler became the focus of investigations in social psychology. In the West, many wondered whether fascism could arise in democratic countries like the United States. Stanley Milgram argued that there is nothing unique about Nazis; in certain situations, we are all capable of blindly following the orders of an authority.

Theodor Adorno, an outstanding German philosopher and scientist, was forced to flee Nazi Germany because he was of the non-Aryan race and is known as a critic of fascism. He took another approach to explain obedience. He proposed that people with a set of individual dispositions are more susceptible to prejudice against out-groups and obedience to authority figures.

If obedience is a matter of personality, do you think you're an obedient type? And what is the difference between people who obey and those who decide to disobey?

• First, we'll describe Adorno's theory of authoritarianism and define the authoritarian personality,
• Next, we'll focus on Adorno's measure of the authoritarian personality.
• Then, we'll look at the research supporting Adorno's theory psychology.
• Finally, we'll discuss Adorno's theory strengths and weaknesses and look into authoritarian personality criticism of the California Fascism Scale.

Adorno proposed that some people are more likely to respect the power of authority than others, freepik.com.

What is Adorno's Theory of Authoritarianism?

Adorno highlighted that people with a particular set of dispositions are more likely to display obedience and submission towards authorities than others. His explanation of obedience focused on dispositional factors.

Adorno identified a personality type called the authoritarian personality, which was associated with higher levels of obedience. The authoritarian personality is characterised by traits, including a preference for strong authority figures and hostility towards scapegoated minorities and out-groups.

Individuals with an authoritarian personality often demonstrate rigid traditional beliefs and advocate for preserving conventional norms and harsh punishments towards individuals who don't adhere to them.

Adorno et al. (1950) the California F Scale

Adorno developed the California F scale to measure the dispositions associated with an authoritarian personality type.

The scale consisted of 30 questions and measured nine personality dimensions that characterised authoritarian individuals. The response option to each question was in the form of a 6-point Likert scale and ranged from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree'.

The personality dimensions measured by the scale included:

1. Conventionalism.

2. Submission to authorities.

3. Aggression towards people who violate norms.

4. Anti-intraception - rejection of the subjective inner world.

5. Rigid thinking, stereotypy and superstition.

6. Concern with power and domination.

7. General hostility.

8. Projectivity or the tendency to project the unconscious on others.

9. Excessive concern with sexual practices.

Here are some examples of the items from the California F scale.

Origins of the Authoritarian Personality

To understand the origins of the authoritarian personality, Adorno interviewed 2000 middle-class, White Americans about their childhood and looked at the common patterns among those who scored highly on the F-scale.

Adorno's research has found that people scoring high on the California F scale often experienced stern parents and harsh upbringing.

He theorised that exposure to such a harsh and punitive environment, where disobedience was not tolerated and children couldn't express their anger safely, led individuals to repress their anger and desire to disobey authoritative figures.

As those individuals grew up, they continued to respect and submit to those who were superior to them and demonstrated rigid adherence to conventional rules. They viewed those who didn't adhere to the rules or obeyed others as morally wrong and displaced the anger they could never express in childhood onto those who were inferior to them.

Adorno, leaning towards the extreme left side of the political spectrum, highlighted that there appears to be a higher prevalence of authoritarian personality among right-wing Americans.

Adorno found authoritarian personality associated with stern parents and a harsh upbringing, freepik.com.

Research Supporting Adorno's Theory Psychology: Elms and Milgram (1966)

Adorno developed the authoritarian personality theory based on his observations but did not investigate whether people with authoritarian personalities are more likely to obey in an experimental setting. On the other hand, Elms and Milgram (1966) tested their predictions of Adorno in a lab.

Elms and Milgram followed up on 40 participants who participated in the Milgram experiment several months ago. Twenty of those participants had obeyed the unethical orders from an authority, while the other twenty disobeyed. The researchers wanted to investigate whether there were some personality differences between the two groups.

The researchers administered two personality measures: the MMPI scale (The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), a general measure of different personality dimensions, and the California F scale, which measured authoritarian personality.

Participants were also interviewed regarding childhood, attitudes towards their parents, the experimenter and the learner from the Milgram experiment.

Let's look at the results of Elms and Milgram (1966):

• There were no significant differences between the two groups on the MMPI scale.

• Significant difference in the scores on the California F scale was found; participants who obeyed the unethical orders scored significantly higher on the scale.

• When asked to describe the learner's and the experimenter's personality in the Milgram experiment, obedient participants assigned more positive characteristics to the experimenter (authority) and more negative characteristics to the learner (inferior).

• Contrary to defiant participants, participants who obeyed demonstrated a lack of closeness to their fathers.

The findings of Elms and Milgram (1966) supported the influence of dispositional factors, specifically the authoritarian personality, on obedience to authority.

The researchers concluded that different motives could lead to obedience and cruelty; repressed anger associated with an authoritarian personality might only be one of them.

Adorno's Theory: Strengths and Weaknesses

First, we'll look at the strengths of the theory.

• Adorno's theory has expanded our understanding of obedience from only situational factors and highlighted individual traits' influence on our behaviour. Combining these factors gives us a better and more holistic understanding of political and societal phenomena.

• Moreover, developing a standardised scale that measures authoritarian personality traits has helped future research measure the personality dimension more reliably and validly.

When considering the weaknesses of Adorno's theory, we need to examine the design and findings of the research the theory is based on.

• Adorno used a sample of middle-class Caucasian Americans, suggesting the theory may be ethnocentric and have class bias. Although the study was later replicated across cultures, most research has been conducted in the West.

• Adorno's research is criticised for suggesting that political conservatives are more likely to score higher on the scale. These findings were later replicated by other researchers, confirming Adorno's findings. On the other hand, some research also points out that individuals on the extreme ends of either the right or left political wing are more likely to score higher on the scale.

• It's also possible that Adorno's interpretation of the participants' upbringing was biased, as he knew their scores on the F scale before interviewing them.

• Additionally, Adorno's research has not demonstrated any causal relationship between the origins and traits of the authoritarian personality or the personality and behaviours. Both Adorno's study and later research by Elms and Milgram only show a correlational relationship between the variables. Therefore, they both provide limited information.

Authoritarian Personality Criticism of the California Fascism Scale

A criticism of the scale is that it is prone to acquiescence bias, a response bias. As you can see from the example California F scale items above, all items are worded positively. Thus, participants who tend to acquiescence are more likely to score higher.

Directly asking people about their views on aggression, fascism, and prejudice can also result in social desirability bias. Most people know that it doesn't look good for them to appear hostile or hold discriminatory views. Therefore, they may conceal their true thoughts and answer in a socially desirable way.