Why do some people get swept up in following authority, even when it goes against their interests? We often see people staunchly dedicated to a boss or authority figure who doesn't even seem to care about them. The dispositional theory argues that certain internal factors can make someone susceptible to this, even more so than social influences can.

• What are the characteristics of an authoritarian personality?
• What does authoritarian personality mean in psychology?
• What does Adorno say about authoritarian personality?
• What are the dispositional factors affecting disobedience?
• What is the dispositional explanation for obedience?

Authoritarian Personality Characteristics

Why do we obey? It might come down to a particular personality type. Just as an authoritarian government prefers unquestioning obedience, an authoritarian personality is much the same.

An authoritarian personality reinforces the role of authority and social division. Above most things, the authoritarian personality values strict adherence to a leader, strengthening that leader’s power. At the same time, an authoritarian personality demands subservience from those of lesser social standing. Deviation from these prescribed roles is often met with strict or aggressive backlash. In this way, social influence does some of the work for the authority figure.

Fig. 1 - Chess pieces on a board.

The Authoritarian Personality: Psychology

When the authoritarian personality is applied to the many social situations that make up our lives, those with this particular disposition often become worse. Unquestioning adherence to authority leaves one vulnerable to an abuse of power. These people are less likely to question unethical behaviour or defend themselves against it.

Authoritarian personality can affect parenting style as well. It will be no surprise to learn that authoritarian parents demand absolute adherence to rules. They are unlikely to negotiate or even listen to their child's feedback about rules. Breaking rules is usually met with disproportionate or harsh punishment. Children of authoritarian parents are also expected to adopt the belief structure of the family. A difference in values is usually considered to be wrong by an authoritarian parent.

Adorno: Authoritarian Personality

As a response to the atrocities committed by Nazi soldiers during the holocaust, claiming they were ‘just following orders, psychologist Theodor Adorno developed his explanation of obedience in 1950, known as a dispositional influence. This theory aims to explain how and why humans are influenced to obey.

According to Adorno, situational (environmental) influences and social context did not sufficiently explain obedience. He stated that dispositional (internal) factors must explain why some people obey and others do not. An example of such situational influence was found in Milgram’s shock experiment (1964). 35% of participants were disobedient despite experiencing the same social context as those who obeyed. These suggest other explanations for obedience.

A dispositional explanation for obedience is interested in the importance of the individual’s personality, i.e. their disposition. Dispositional explanations focus on the traits unique to the individual and are often used compared to situational (environmental) explanations.

Adorno stated that those with an authoritarian personality are naturally more obedient. This is because they favour the status of authority figures and view non-authority figures as inferior. In turn, they are more likely to obey.

Such parents have high expectations for their children and criticize the child heavily for any mistakes. Due to this, the child grows to be respectful of authority figures and critical of those who are inferior. Adorno thus suggested that personality plays an important role in explaining why people obey.

Fig. 2 - Parent scolding a child.

Dispositional Factors Affecting Disobedience

Adorno carried out his study to test dispositional factors affecting disobedience. The aim, procedure and findings of the study are discussed below.

Aim of the study

The study aimed to test whether dispositional factors, such as an authoritarian personality, affected obedience levels. It aimed to do this by testing participants’ affiliation with fascism. Adorno wanted to test whether having an authoritarian personality correlated with fascist beliefs.

The procedure of the study

The procedure of the study involved the recruitment of over 2000 middle-class white Americans. Adorno developed a questionnaire to measure levels of authoritarian personality called the California F scale. The ‘F’ stands for fascism. The questionnaire presented various statements that the participants had to score on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree).

Adorno then calculated the participants' scores based on their scoring of how much they agreed or disagreed with each statement.

The study found that the participants that scored highly on the F scale were authoritarian personalities. They showed high respect and obedience to authority and were conscious of status. He also concluded that those with authoritarian personalities view situations in a black-and-white manner; namely, something is either right or wrong, and there is no uncertainty. Adorno found that such people had a particular cognitive style of understanding, which involved categorising people into stereotypes. This also showed high levels of prejudice, linking this to the presence of an authoritarian personality.

Dispositional Explanation for Obedience

Adorno's study led him to conclude several factors that provide an explanation for obedience.

• High scores on the F scale indicated the presence of an authoritarian personality.

• Since high F scores measured attitudes towards fascism, it was concluded that agreement with fascist attitudes meant the individual had an authoritarian personality and was, therefore, more likely to obey authority.

• The search for an explanation for obedience is a dispositional explanation because it tests the influence of individuals’ personalities on obedience.

Dispositional influence as an explanation for obedience has several strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths of the dispositional explanation

Adorno found strong positive correlations between authoritarian personalities and obedience as well as between authoritarian personalities and prejudice. The study has research support. Milgram and Elms (1966) found there was a strong positive correlation between authoritarian personalities and obedience in a small sample of obedient individuals. The explanation can explain why many support a fascist ideology, namely that they have authoritarian personalities and respect authority.

Weaknesses of the dispositional explanation

The sample has low generalisability and low population validity as it only sampled white, middle-class Americans. It has been argued that the sample likely had authoritarian personalities due to the nature of the sample itself and the time of the study (1950). However strong the correlations are, they are not causation. Therefore, other factors may be involved in explaining the link between an authoritarian personality and obedience, such as education levels or cultural upbringing.

It is unlikely that everyone who obeyed fascist orders during the holocaust had authoritarian personalities. It is more likely that situational (environmental) influences were also a factor since all those that obeyed shared the same social context (the Nazi regime). Some have argued that the study shows political bias in its interpretation of an authoritarian personality due to the negative association of the personality type with prejudice and right-wing political ideology.