Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969),                The Authoritarian Personality (1950)

Frankfurt School critical theory is perhaps the most significant theory of society to have developed directly from a research programme focused on the critique of political authoritarianism, as it manifested during the interwar decades of the 20th century. The Frankfurt School’s analysis of the persistent roots – and therefore the perennial nature – of what it describes as the ‘authoritarian personality’ remains influential in the analysis of authoritarian populism in the contemporary world, as evidenced by several recent studies. Yet the tendency in these studies is to reference the final formulation of the category, as expressed in Theodor Adorno and co-thinkers’ The Authoritarian Personality (1950), as if this were a theoretical readymade that can be unproblematically inserted into a measured assessment of the threat to democracy posed by current authoritarian trends. It is high time that the theoretical commitments and political stakes in the category of the authoritarian personality are re-evaluated, in light of the evolution of the Frankfurt School. In this paper, I review the classical theories of the authoritarian personality, arguing that two quite different versions of the theory – one characterological, the other psychodynamic – can be extracted from Frankfurt School research.

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A-B Type Therapists and the Authoritarian Personality

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1975.36.1.167 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 167-170

Author(s):

Jerome H. Resnick ◽

Steven Berk

Keyword(s):

Authoritarian Personality ◽

Minimal Support ◽

Written Form ◽

Patient Groups ◽

Neurotic Patient

This study tested an early contention by Betz that it is the A-B type therapist's authority orientation which most significantly mediates success over schizoid and neurotic patient groups. The authoritarian has been described as conventional, rigid in thought, insecure, concrete, and intolerant of ambiguity, paralleling the description of B-therapists, while As are seen as nonauthoritarian. Ss listened to tape-recorded communications from neurotic and schizoid patients and responded “therapeutically” in free written form at the end of each of five segments per tape. Analyses of variance indicated only minimal support for the hypothesis that the A-B dimension is related to authoritarianism.

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Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit – Authoritarian Personality 2.0?

Widerstand und Fürsorge ◽

10.13109/9783666454172.299 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 299-312

Author(s):

Oliver Decker ◽

Christoph Türcke

Keyword(s):

Authoritarian Personality

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Correlates of Authoritarian Personality

South African Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1177/008124638101100205 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 85-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Patrick C.L. Heaven

Keyword(s):

Review Of The Literature ◽

Authoritarian Personality

Although authoritarians are generally regarded as conservative, racist, militaristic, etc., a thorough review of the literature would indicate that this is not always the case. Some researchers advise that a distinction be drawn between authoritarian attitudes and authoritarian behaviour. Conducting a further study among a group of Afrikaansspeaking students, if was found that, although a relationship exists between authoritarian attitudes and certain variables such as ethnocentrism, patriotism and militarism, authoritarianism of personality is not related to conservatism, militarism or patriotism.

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