AQA A-Level Psychology Social Psychology

1. Social Psychology
Authoritarian Personality

2. Lesson Objectives
To define authoritarian personality.
To outline & evaluate Elms & Milgram’s research into authoritarian
personality and apply their findings to obedience.
Specification: Explanations for obedience: agentic state and legitimacy of authority, and
situational variables affecting obedience including proximity, location and uniform, as
investigated by Milgram. Dispositional explanation for obedience: the Authoritarian
Personality.

3. Questionnaire
Task: Complete the following
questionnaire by reading each
statement and deciding whether you
agree or disagree, using the scale
provided.
Once you have done this, calculate
your score (out of 50) and consider
the three questions.

4. The Authoritarian Personality
Milgram’s study created a conflict in participants:
“Don’t harm an innocent person”
vs. “You must obey authority”
However, not all participants
fully obeyed, which led
psychologists to suggestion a
disposition (personality)
theory of obedience.

5. The F Scale
This questionnaire you completed is used to measure authoritarian
personality. People that strongly agreed with these statements would be
said to have an authoritarian personality.
 40+ Strongly Authoritarian
 30-39 – Authoritarian
Question: Do you agree with the results of your questionnaire?
RM Question: What are the strengths/limitations of gathering data from
a questionnaire?

6. The Authoritarian Personality
Adorno et al. (1950) believed that the foundations for an authoritarian
personality were laid in early childhood as a result of harsh and strict
parenting, which made the child feel that the love of their parents was
conditional and dependent upon how they behaved.
It is argued that this then creates resentment within the child as they
grow up and, since they cannot express it at the time, the feelings are
displaced onto others that are seen as ‘weak’ or ‘inferior’, as a form of
scapegoating.
The authoritarian personality is associated with obedient individuals
who are submissive towards people of a higher status.

7. Elms and Milgram (1966)
Task: Read the Elms and Milgram study on
‘The Authoritarian Personality’ and
answer the questions on your handout.
Be ready to discuss your answers in 10
minutes.
10 Minutes

8. Answers
1. Outline one key finding of Elms and Milgram’s research.
Possible answer:
 Obedient participants (from Milgram’s original study) scored higher
on the F scale in comparison to disobedient participants (those who
did not administer the full 450 volts).
 Obedient participants were less close to their fathers.
 Obedient participants admired/respected the experimenter in
Milgram’s study.

9. Answers
2. The data collected was correlational; why might this be a problem?
Possible answer:
 Elms and Milgram are unable to show cause and effect. Therefore,
we do not know if the higher F scale score causes higher levels of
obedience, or whether there are other factors (e.g. upbringing) that
may play a role.

10. Answers
3. Elms and Milgram used the F scale (a questionnaire) to determine
levels of authoritarian personality. Why might this be a problem?
Possible answer:
 There is a possibility of social desirability bias.
 The participants might respond in a way that presents themselves
in the best possible light (e.g. lower levels of authoritarian
personality traits) which might bias the results.

11. Answers
4. Research by Middendorp and Meleon (1990) found that less-
educated people are more likely to display authoritarian personality
characteristics in comparison to well-educated people. If these claims
are correct then why does this pose a problem for the authoritarian
explanation of obedience?
Possible answer:
 It suggests that education might be the main cause of obedient
behaviour and NOT higher levels of authoritarian personality, as
suggested by Elms and Milgram.

12. Authoritarian Personality
Task: Complete the topic worksheet
on dispositional explanations of
obedience.
15 Minutes

13. KEY TERM DEFINITION
Dispositional
explanations
A dispositional explanation of
obedience which was first identified by
Adorno et al. (1950). It refers to a
collection of personality traits that a
person holds whereby they have
extreme respect for authority resulting
from strict parenting during childhood.
F-scale
A focus on the internal characteristics
that lie within the individual (e.g.
personality) which lead a person to be
more likely to follow the orders of an
authority figure.
Authoritarian
personality
Displacing feelings, which cannot be
expressed to those in authority, onto
others that are seen as ‘weak’ or
‘inferior’.
Scapegoating
A questionnaire which measures fascist
tendencies (an extreme right-wing
ideology).

14. True or
False
Elaboration
A
Adorno et al. (1950) believed
that the foundations for an
authoritarian personality were
laid in early childhood as a result
of harsh and strict parenting.
B
Milgram and Elms (1966)
conducted post-experimental
interviews with participants who
were not obedient in Milgram’s
original study, to see if there was
a link between high levels of
obedience and an authoritarian
personality.
True This made the child
feel that the love of
their parents was
conditional and
dependent upon how
they behaved.
False It was found that the
obedient participants
scored higher on the F-
scale in comparison to
the disobedient
participants.

15. True or
False
Elaboration
C
Well-educated people are more
likely than less-educated people
to display authoritarian
personality characteristics.
D
It is possible that the F-scale
suffers from response bias or
social desirability, where
participants provide answers
that are socially acceptable.
False There may be
individual differences
that contribute to the
development of the
authoritarian
personality.
False Participants may appear
more authoritarian
because they believe
that their answers are
socially ‘correct’ and
consequently they are
incorrectly classified as
authoritarian when they
are not.

16. unconscious
F-Scale
right
highly
disrespect
cognitive
positive
obedient
respect

17. Q4 Drawing a conclusion
A psychologist wanted to examine the link between authoritarian personality
and levels of discriminatory behaviour. She gave two questionnaires to a group
of psychology students: 1) Adorno’s F-Scale to measure levels of authoritarian
personality and 2) a newly designed questionnaire that examined levels of
discriminatory behaviour. The results are shown in the graph.
Explain what conclusion can be drawn from the scatter graph in relation to
the authoritarian personality and discrimination. (2)
The results of the graph show that there is a strong positive correlation
between the authoritarian personality and discrimination and prejudice
towards other racial groups. That is, as the score from the F-scale
increases, so does the likelihood of the individual also holding
discriminatory and prejudiced viewpoints.