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Political Psychology: Citizen Behaviors and Opinions

Political Psychology: Citizen Behaviors and Opinions. Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism. Program. What is personality? Authoritarianism Authoritarianism and threat. What is personality?. Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism. A general definition. Personality:

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Political Psychology: Citizen Behaviors and Opinions

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  1. Political Psychology:Citizen Behaviors and Opinions Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism

  2. Program • What is personality? • Authoritarianism • Authoritarianism and threat

  3. What is personality? Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism

  4. A general definition • Personality: Regularities of an individual’s behavior in response to diverse stimuli

  5. Personality • Unique to each person • Relatively stable over time • Influences behaviors and thoughts

  6. Authoritarianism Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism

  7. Authoritarianism • Starting point: • The Authoritarian Personality • Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson & Sanford (Berkeley) • 1950

  8. Authoritarianism • conformity and conventionalism • submission and idealization of authority • hostility and aggression toward deviants • social, political and econ. conservatism • ethnocentrism • mental rigidity • ego defense • superstition • anti-intraception

  9. Authoritarianism • Sources: oppressive, punitive and restrictive family rearing practices when they were growing up

  10. Authoritarianism • Criticisms: • the measure does not capture all forms of authoritarianism • the methodological faults of the concept’s scale • the reliance on non-representative samples • the refusal to consider alternative explanations

  11. Authoritarianism, take 2 • Renewal: • Robert Altemeyer • 1981, 1989, 1996 • a new mesure and a new explanation

  12. Authoritarianism, take 2 • 3 dimensions: • authoritarian submission • authoritarian aggression • conventionalism

  13. Authoritarianism, take 2 • Examples of statements: • "Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn." • "We have to crack down harder on deviant groups and troublemakers if we are going to save our moral standards and preserve law and order." • "Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away a tour moral fiber and traditional beliefs."

  14. Authoritarianism, take 2 • Authoritarians: • support more illegal acts by governments • support less charters of rights and freedoms • are less sensitive toward the abuse of human rights by authorities • would impose more severe sentences to criminals • would impose less severe sentences to authorities • would impose more severe sentences to deviants

  15. Authoritarianism, take 2 • Authoritarians: • administer higher shocks in an experiment where they can choose the intensity level • are more ethnocentric • are more hostile toward homosexuals • would be more willing to participate in the elimination of radical groups • have a higher propensity to subscribe to traditional religious beliefs • tend to belong to the more orthodox or fundamentalist branches of religions

  16. Authoritarianism, take 2 • Authoritarians: • adhere to a great degree to traditional gender roles • are more conforming to social norms • have higher scores on a socio-political conservatism scale • have a greater tendency to vote for parties of the right • (when legislators) are more prone to be affiliated with parties of the right

  17. Authoritarians: tend to believe that there are many problems are less able to detect false inferences support to a greater extent contradictory ideas are less demanding in the judgment of sufficient proof are more vulnerable to the fundamental attribution error have more double standards are not conscious of their authoritarianism Authoritarianism, take 2

  18. Authoritarianism, take 2 • How does one become authoritarian? • a little due to genetics • a little due to parents • a little due to friends • a lot due to life experiences

  19. Authoritarianism and threat Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism

  20. Authoritarianism and threat • Doty, Peterson and Winter, 1991: • two periods (1978-82 / 1983-87) • social / political / economic instability first high than low • authoritarianism manifestations • drop of observed authoritarianism

  21. Authoritarianism and threat • Andrew Perrin, 2005: • did 9/11 affect authoritarianism? • content analysis of newspaper letters from the public • one month before and after 9/11 • climb of authoritarianism after

  22. Authoritarianism and threat

  23. Authoritarianism and threat • Karen Stenner, 2005: • normative threats are attacks on authorities, values, and norms • authoritarianism = qualities children should learn (surveys) • threat should increase impact of authoritarianism on intolerance

  24. Authoritarian. & intolerance

  25. Authoritarian. & intolerance

  26. Auth. & intolerance & threat

  27. Auth. & intolerance & threat

  28. Conclusion Lecture 3 Personality 1: Authoritarianism

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