EXAMPLE 11 Authoritarian personality?
Do some people have a personality type that disposes them to rigid thinking and to following strong leaders? Psychologists looking back on the Nazis after World War II thought so. In 1950, a group of psychologists developed the “F-scale” as an instrument to measure “authoritarian personality.” The F-scale asks how strongly you agree or disagree with statements such as the following:
• Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn.
• Science has its place, but there are many important things that can never be understood by the human mind.
Strong agreement with such statements marks you as authoritarian. The F-scale and the idea of the authoritarian personality continue to be prominent in psychology, especially in studies of prejudice and right-wing extremist movements.