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THE DEFINITION OF AUTHORITARIANISM

Authoritarianism is the personality disorder where the individual has the tendency to be dogmatic , rigid , absolute to his beliefs , resistant to novelty and changes , obedient to authority, submissive to the people who regards superior than him and cynical against the out-group members who regards as inferior in comparison with his group members.

(Detlef, 2005)

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HOW THE CONCEPT ON AUTHORITANISM STARTED IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES ……….

Initially it was used to explain the formation of German fascism within a social- psychological framework !

From 1929 to 1933, the amount of people who voted for the National Socialists increased from 1 million to 7 million !

According to Reich (1933), Fromm and Marcuse (1936) the unexpected success of the National Socialists was an effect of an authoritarian socialization !

(Detlef, 2005).

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THE ROOTS OF THE AUTHORITARIANISM !!!

Due to modern Capitalism humans felt.. Insecurity Uncertainty Lack of direction Anxiety As a RESULT People turned to

the Nazi ideology because they felt that their values were in danger !

(Seculic, 2010).

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That kind of fear creates the individuals the need to restore

psychological security and the endangered self-concept !!

According to the studies……humans with authoritarian predispositions when they perceive normative threat their intolerance increases !!

(Seculic, 2010).

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The roots of the authoritarianism !!!

• The perception of normative threat leads to aggression against the out-group members!

• Because …authoritarians feel that the different ideologies from the out-group members can harm the nation & the society !

(Seculic, 2010).

The roots of the authoritarianism !

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IN ADDITION……

• the upbringing that an individual has from his family plays a significant role whether he or she will became authoritarian or not!!

• If a person is raised by dogmatic and distant parents who…

a) punished him constantly for minor reasons & b) have rigid and absolute ideologies and values about

society and humanity …..

(Altemeyer, 2006).

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THEN…..

The child has…… significant possibilities to turn into an obedient persona !!

Children who obey constantly to their parent’s demands and there is not any room for independence or rebellion, when they became adults, there are high possibilities to became authoritarians !!!

(Altemeyer, 2006).

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THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE…

Obedience to authority or to people whom the individual considers as superior to him is a key characteristic for an authoritarian personality !!!

If an individual learns from the early childhood to obey to the people who have more power and privileges than him (in the case of the childhood the parents), then might he will continue this obedient attitude as an adult !!!

(Altemeyer, 2006).

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ALSO….

if a child is constantly told by his parents about how hostile the world is and some certain groups because are immoral (according to their own perception about what is ethical or not) threaten the society, the child will learn to fear or even hate every individual or groups, which have different values systems from him or her !!

(Altemeyer, 2006).

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TRAITS OF A PERSONALITY WITH AUTHORITARIAN PREDISPOSITIONS !

a) Authoritarian personalities identify their selves to authority and internalize their norms and values systems in order to feel…

SECURE !! They tend to fear change and instability and as a

result they invest heavily in the existing structures of authority !!

These normative systems make the individual to feel less anxious and any criticism of these norms means for the individual an attack to his sense of security !!

(Bhattacharya, 2007).

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• b) The authoritarian personalities because of their inability to develop conflict-solving strategies feel an emotional and cognitive overload hostility& aggression !!

• When leading authorities are under attack, the authoritarian might display aggression, because he feels insecure without the support of the leading authorities !!!

(Detlef, 2005).

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Traits of a personality with authoritarian predispositions !

AUTHORITARIANS ALSO HAVE…..

Low-self esteem , lack of identity , the tendency to defend everything new and to reject individuals who have different values systems from them !!

hostility & aggression !!!

(Detlef, 2005).

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c) ETHNOCENTRISM….. Individuals with authoritarian

personalities tend to adapt themselves to the group whose ethnic dimension and nation they belong to !!!

They consider other nations hostile & dangerous !!

(Ferrarotti, 1994).

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d) Dogmatism :

Authoritarian personalities = an inflexible uncritical way of thinking !!!

= rigid and inflexible in their beliefs !!

= a lot of biases & not subjectivity or imagination !!!

(Duckit, 2000)

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REMEDIES TO AUTHORITARIANISM !!

• a) Education a significant role to the formation of an individual’s personality !!

• Educated people think more critically and do not follow the pre-existing beliefs without evaluating them first!!

• Education = the key to make the individual’s way of thinking more complex and critical and to limit to some extent any authoritarian predispositions !!

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b) Parental support : If parents offer support and warmth to

their children & give them space to take their own decisions and to form their own opinions about the world and society… then the children have fewer possibilities to display authoritarian predispositions when they become adults !!!

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Adolf HITLER …the epitome of an authoritarian Personality…..

He was born in 1889 by Alois & Klara Hitler .

He gave all his affection to his mother while he feared &opposed his father.

Adolf as a young boy was Somewhat tall ,sallow, with melancholy thoughtful eyes.

He looked older for his age.

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ADOLF HITLER

He wanted to be an artist but he failed to pass his art examination. At the age of nineteen he went Vienna where his ideas about anti-

Semitism and anti-slavism begun to crystallize. In 1914 he enlisted in the army with great enthusiasm and in 1919 he

came in contact with Anton Drexler and later the Nazi party was formed. He gave the impression of a man with great strength and will but inside

he was very insecure and needed power in order to fill his psychological gaps.

He fight against minorities ( such as Jews and homosexuals) and exterminated a great number of them , he believed in the Aryan race and the superiority of the German nation , he was very brutal and aggressive and nation-centered.

He committed suicide with pills on 30 April 1945 with Eva Braun (when the Russian military powers invaded through Berlin).

(Vernon)

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WHAT A PERSON WITH AUTHORITARIAN PREDISPOSITIONS WOULD SAY

“Whether the world we live is friendly or hostile ,what the future has on store for us , the adequacy of the self ,and what must it be done to alleviate feelings of adequacy of the self , and what must it be done to alleviate feelings of adequacy. It is assumed that the more closed the system , the more will the content of such beliefs be to the effect that we live alone , isolated and helpless in a friendless world. That we live I a world where the future is uncertain. That the self is fundamentally unworthy and inadequate to cope alone with this friendless world. And that way to overcome such feelings is by self-aggrandizing and self-righteous identification with a cause , a concern with power and status , and by a compulsive self-proselytization about the justice of such a cause”

(Bothwell,2004)

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TO CONCLUDE….AN AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY TENDS TO BE…

Dogmatic !

Submissive towards authority !

Rigid to this values & beliefs !

Resistant to change & novelty !

Aggressive & cynical against out- group members who regards as inferior !

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AN INDIVIDUAL WITH AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY HAS….

low-self esteem ! Low cognitive complexity ! Perceives the world as a hostile

place ! Accepts inequality ! Tends to be ethnocentric ! Rejects diversity !

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TWO INTERESTING VIDEOS TO WATCH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGhdX1SI3KY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBO6lw607mc

THANK YOU

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REFERENCES :

 

• Seculic, (2010).The authoritarian dynamics .Areas of peace and conflict and the theory of Authoritarian dynamics. University of Zagreb.

• Detlef, (2005).Flight into security. A new approach and measure of the authoritarian personality, 26 (2). Max –Planck –institute for human development.

• Bhattacharya, (2007).Authoritarianism and conservatism. Department of political science.

• Altemeyer, (2006). The authoritarians. Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba.

• Altemeyer, (2004). Highly Dominating, Highly authoritarian personalities, 144(4), 421-447.University of Manitoba.

• Ferrarotti, (1994). Beyond the authoritarian personality: Adorno’s Demon and its liberation, 8(1).International journal of politics.

• Duckitt, (2000). Authoritarianism and dogmatism. Handbook of individual differences in social behaviors. Guilford press.

 

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