Research: Authoritarianism (A)
With freedom comes responsibility; some prefer to turn their will over to an
external authority, such as church or government, so they can “just follow
orders.” These individuals also enjoy giving orders, which they expect to be
unquestioned, to those below them in the hierarchy. Fromm called these
authoritarian personalities.
Facets of California F Scale
Conventionalism: follow mainstream values
Authoritarian submission: submissive and uncritical of societal moral
authorities
Authoritarian aggression: desire to severely punish those who do not obey
authority
Anti-”intraception”: aversion to looking within the self and generally
suspicious of anything philosophical, humanistic, or subjective
Superstition and stereotypy: belief that fate is determined by mysterious,
supernatural forces; thinking in rigid categories
Power and toughness: fascination with domination with awe of powerful
individuals and institutions
Destructiveness and cynicism: lack of faith in the value of people
Projectivity: belief that wild and dangerous things are going on in the world;
researchers indicate these are projections of one’s own repressed impulses
Sexual repression: disproportionate concern with sexual issues, especially
concerning “immoral” things that others might be doing (Nazis intended to
exterminate Jews and homosexuals)
Findings on Authoritarianism
California F (fascism) scale; updated to the more current right wing
authoritarianism (RWA) scale
tend to be uncooperative and inflexible when playing experimental games
are somewhat likely to obey an authority figure’s commands to harm another
person
are likely to oppose equal rights for transsexuals
tend to favor the 2003 American military intervention in Iraq
watch more television
support most powerful candidate regardless of political party
tend to crave strong leaders and support dictatorship
Research: Political Persuasions
Explored relationship of early personality characteristics (preschool age) with
adult political party affiliation (Jack & Block, 2006).
Conservative: easily offended, indecisive, fearful, and rigid
Liberal: self-reliant, energetic, somewhat dominating, and relatively
undercontrolled in preschool
Research: Estrangement from Culture and Well-being
Explored individual as compared with societal values and feelings of
estrangement (isolation), anxiety, and depression (Bernard, Gebauer, & Maio,
2006).
Those who felt their values were discrepant from society in general felt more
estrangement.
The more estranged from society people feel, the more anxious and depressed they
are. Those who feel more estranged from friends feel increased anxiety and
depression.
Thus more estrangement from society may make people more susceptible to
depression, but these feelings can be lessened if one finds a group of friends
who share their “estranged” beliefs.
Also, this implies that individuality may not always, psychologically and
emotionally, be in a person’s best self interest.
Research: Loneliness (Fromm, Sullivan, and others interested in interpersonal
relationships
Definition: not synonymous with isolation; concerns our perception of how much
social interaction we have and the quality of that interaction.
Western societies: Loneliness involves absence of an intimate friend or romantic
relationship
Asian cultures: Loneliness is less common because associations with family and
community are emphasized; when loneliness does occur, it is more likely to lower
a person’s sense of well-being.
Our vulnerability to loneliness is relatively stable over time.
Loneliness correlates with:
-social anxiety and self-consciousness
-low levels of self-esteem and assertiveness
-introversion, anxiety, sensitivity to rejection
-depression
-difficulty trusting others
-uncomfortable when others open up to them
-less time with friends, dates, parties, and fewer close
friends
-difficulty making friends, initiating social activity, and
participating in groups
-more susceptible to cold virus
-poorer antibody response to receiving a flu shot
Causes of Loneliness
Negative Expectations (Groups worked together for 30 min, then separated and
rated others in terms of intelligence and friendliness; then they rated themselves and how they guessed others would rate them.) Lonely participants…
evaluated themselves less favorably than others
expected that others would rate them unfavorably
were actually rated as friendlier than most others.
Poor Social Skills; Lonely participants…
Showed relatively little interest in their partners
Asked fewer questions, often failed to comment on what the other person said,
and made fewer references to other
More likely to talk about themselves or introduce new topic
May disclose too much or not enough about themselves
Not intentionally rude but turn others away with interaction style