In the early 1980s,
Bob Altemeyer
, a professor at the University of Manitoba, refined the work with the F-scale and came up with a new definition of the authoritarian personality. Altemeyer renamed the authoritarian personality “right-wing authoritarianism” (RWA) and defined it as having three related dimensions.
Conceptually, the term authoritarian personality originated from the writings of
Erich Fromm
, and usually is applied to men and women who exhibit a strict and oppressive personality towards their subordinates.
Originally published in
1950
, The Authoritarian Personality remains a major landmark in political psychology.
The authoritarian personality is thought to emerge from
childhood experiences
. This reasoning comes from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Freud suggested that childhood experiences, especially those with parents, lead to people’s attitudes as adults.
Who is Adorno et al?
Adorno et al. (1950) proposed
that prejudice
is the result of an individual’s personality type. … Adorno argued that deep-seated personality traits predisposed some individuals to be highly sensitive to totalitarian and antidemocratic ideas and therefore were prone to be highly prejudicial.
Authoritative is defined as someone who knows a great deal about a certain subject and who is
generally considered an expert
.
Types of authoritarian governments include
absolute monarchy, military dictatorship, and ideologically-based regimes
.
Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of a strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.
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.
The
authoritarian ruler is more focused on individual power
, while the totalitarian ruler is more of a charming ideologist who claims to have the best interest of the people or the state in mind. I hope this was helpful in distinguishing the difference!
- Leaders make decisions with little or no participation or creative input from their followers or team members.
- Leaders independently preside over policies and processes.
- Group members are always directly supervised by the leader.
A government who is more concerned with having people obey laws than in people having some freedom
is an example of an authoritarian government. The definition of an authoritarian is a person who expects everyone to do what he says to do. A dictator is an example of an authoritarian.
People with such a personality are more obedient because
they see authority figures more legitimately than people without
, and feel like they must obey to maintain their position and uphold societal values. A strength of this explanation is that it has research support.
Authoritative leaders bring clarity: They are
effective
because of their ability to inspire, motivate, and influence their team. … They have a clear vision of what success looks like, and give their team members clear direction and constructive feedback as they work toward organizational goals.
1 :
having, marked by, or proceeding from authority authoritative church doctrines
an authoritative decision an authoritative manner. 2 : possessing recognized or evident authority : clearly accurate or knowledgeable an authoritative critique an authoritative source of information.
Authoritative parents are strict and warm, while authoritarian parents are strict and cold. Authoritative parents
discuss and explain rules to their children
. They are open to give-and-take discussion and will modify rules if appropriate. … Authoritarian parents only allows one-way communication.
