Generativity and authoritarianism: Implications for personality, political involvement, and parenting.

Generativity (Erikson, 1950) and authoritarianism have recently received increased attention in the personality and social psychology literature. The authors articulate connections and distinctions to test hypotheses concerning personality, politics, and parenting on a sample of adults and their adolescent children. The Big 5 Openness to Experience factor was positively related to generativity and negatively related to authoritarianism. In addition, high scorers on generativity were interested in political issues, whereas those scoring high on authoritarianism were not. High scorers on authoritarianism also used a punitive parenting style that had adverse consequences for parent–child relationships, whereas generative parents used an authoritative style that produced positive outcomes. Although generative and authoritarian individuals may share a focus on passing down traditions, the content of those traditions seems to span a wider range for people who are high in generativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of two types of xenophilic orientation.

"A sample of 422 college students at Boston University responded to scales measuring tendencies toward xenophilia, authoritarianism, hostility toward typical Americans, willingness to stereotype, and interest in travelling abroad… . High scorers on the Xenophile Scale can be distinguished from low scorers on the above dimensions. High xenophiles seem to be more willing to stereotype, express hostility toward typical Americans, and express a stronger desire to travel than low xenophiles. Predictions were made concerning two varieties of high xenophiles, high scorers and low scorers on the California F scale. It was found that the low authoritarians were more attracted to things foreign than the highs along several dimensions. Furthermore among low scorers on the Xenophile scale, clear distinctions were found among the high and low F scale scorers. The highs were more willing to stereotype than were the lows." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism, leader acceptance, and group cohesion.

An examination of the validity of the Frommian compromise between leader-centered and member-centered theories of group cohesiveness is made, using a sample of enlisted men of the Air Defense Command. The variables of authoritarianism and leader-acceptance were measured in this sample by means of Likert-type scales. The Frommian hypothesis is supported to some extent, since, as expected, under conditions of military organization, more high authoritarians than low apparently accept or idealize their formally designated leader; and, attractive force of the group is apparently stronger for high than for low scorers on the authoritarianism scale. The strong positive association between leader acceptance and group cohesion, for high authoritarians, that is expected on the Frommian hypothesis is not found. A discussion of the Frommian compromise is then made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism, ideology, and political candidate choice.

2 experiments were conducted investigating the relationship between F Scale scores and preference for the candidates of a particular party or ideology. Exp. I showed that Ss with high scores on the F Scale preferred the Republican party and voted for Nixon while those with low scores preferred the Democratic party and voted for Kennedy. The relationship was hypothesized to appear because (a) both candidates clearly differed in the degree to which they represetned liberal and conservative ideologies, (b) the voters possessed an ideological outlook, and (c) liberal or conservative values were more salient than other factors in the choice of candidates. In Exp. II, 3 samples of students were presented with different pairs of candidates: liberal Democrat and conservative Republican, liberal Republican and conservative Democrat, and candidates ideologically equated. Ignoring candidate ideology, there was no relationship between F score and party vote. When ideology was taken into account, high scorers voted for the conservative candidate and low scorers voted for the liberal candidate regardless of party label. When the stimulus figures were equated ideologically there was no relationship between F scores and choice. There was no support for the hypothesis that choices by high scorers were more subject to the pressure of group norms than those of low scorers. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Illusory tilt and Euclidean schemes as factors in performance on the water-level task.

Predictions made by models of water-level acquisition were tested to understand better the sensory factors, cognitive factors, or both, that differentiate people who fail the test (low scorers) from people who pass (high scorers). Experiments 1 and 2 showed that in a horizontal-edge detection task, low scorers were less likely than high scorers to "see" liquid edges in tilted containers as horizontal. Experiment 3 showed that water-level type displays belong to a class of tilt illusions that arise from early visual processes for both low and high scorers, but only high scorers spontaneously use cognitive schemes to minimize illusory tilt. In Experiment 4, high scorers, but not low scorers, overrode the orientation illusion in a production task. The findings suggest bottom-up processes cause embedded lines to be misperceived for both groups, but high scorers are more likely to use cognitive schemes spontaneously to overcome the orientation illusion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retraction of Ross and LoLordo findings concerning blocking in serial feature-positive discriminations.

Findings concerning the effectiveness of stimuli from various conditioning procedures in blocking conditioned excitation and occasion-setting functions of an added stimulus in a serial feature-positive discrimination training procedure (V. M. LoLordo and R. T. Ross; see record 1987-24106-001; Ross and LoLordo; see record 1987-14728-001) are retracted. Videotapes on which the published data were based were rescored by 2–5 people, most of whom were uninformed about group memberships of the Subjects. In no case did the rescoring confirm any of the original findings of blocking. Possible factors contributing to the discrepancies are discussed. The experiments should be repeated with feature stimuli that are less similar to each other and with several scorers, at least one of whom is unaware of the group assignment of the Subjects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of information source status and dogmatism upon conformity behavior.

This study explored the relationship between degree of authoritarianism, as measured by Rokeach's (1960) Dogmatism Scale, and susceptibility to influence by individuals of high and low social status. College Ss were placed in the autokinetic problem (see 10: 1332); a confederate of E, introduced as either a research scientist or a high school senior, gave his responses to the situation prior to S. The confederate's judgments were contrived so as to disagree with S's. Ss high in authoritarianism tended to agree with (conform to) the responses of the "scientist"; Ss low in authoritarianism, with the "high school student." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retributive and utilitarian motives and other correlates of Canadian attitudes toward the death penalty.

An in-depth survey of 144 English Canadian adults examined the motives behind, and other social psychological correlates of, attitudes toward capital punishment. The results suggested that for a substantial percentage of people the motive of retribution may be more important than deterence as a reason for favoring the death penalty. Other findings indicated that the more strongly people favored the death penalty, the more likely they were to score high on measures of authoritarianism, punitiveness, dogmatism, and prejudice. They were also more likely to be older and less educated. The hypothesis that people who felt threatened by crime would be more likely to favor capital punishment received equivocal support. Both theoretical and practical applications of the data are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism, alienation, and related variables: A correlational and factor-analytic study.

Used correlational and factor analysis to investigate the interrelationships among 14 measures of alienation (e.g., Dean's powerlessness, normlessness, and social isolation scales), anomia, (e.g., Sroles's anomia scale), authoritarianism (e.g., the Fascism Scale), status concern (e.g., a 10-item scale developed by W. C. Kaufman, 1975), and the tendency to discriminate (e.g., an 11-item scale developed by the current author, 1971). Data were obtained from 436 university students. Results of the correlational analysis offer general support for the hypotheses that the alienation measures would be moderately interrelated, that authoritarianism would be weakly related to alienation but strongly related to tendency to discriminate, and that status concern would be related to both authoritarianism and the tendency to discriminate but insignificantly related to the alienation scales. Factor analysis revealed 10 dimensions underlying the 14 scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-statements, self-esteem, and locus of control in discriminating college students' scores on the Beck Depression Inventory

To study the use of the ratio of positive to negative self-statements, locus of control, and self-esteem in discriminating between scores on the Beck Depression Inventory 145 undergraduate college students were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised, Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory-Adult Form, and the Rotter Locus of Control scale in their classrooms. A stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that five variables combined to yield a statistically significant discrimination among low, middle, and high scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. The classification analysis indicated that 77.1% (n = 111) of the undergraduate students were correctly classified; 93.2% (82 of 88) were correctly classified as low scorers and 73.3% (18 of 46) were correctly classified as high scorers.     

Social desirability responding in the measurement of assertive behavior.

Investigated social desirability responding in the measurement of assertive behavior. 30 22–56 yr old middle-class women completed self-report and analogue behavioral measures of assertion and anxiety before and after assertiveness training. The measures included the Assertion Inventory, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and role-played assertiveness scenes during a telephone call. Consistent with social desirability theory and research, high social desirability scorers described themselves as more assertive and less anxious than low scorers, but were behaviorally less assertive than low scorers. Although both high and low scorers improved their assertion skills, high scorers did not appear less anxious after assertiveness training, unlike low scorers. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality conflict, originality of response, and recall.

The general hypothesis states that variability in response to the same repeated stimulus is a function of intraindividual conflict. Applying this formulation to personality conflict, it is expected that the conflicted individual will show greater variability as a function of competing responses which appear alternately in subsequent similar situations. A measure of approach-avoidance personality conflict is described. High and low scorers on this conflict scale were exposed to a word-association task and were then required to recall their own responses. On the basis of the competing-tendency hypothesis, it was predicted that the conflicted subjects would show a higher frequency of original responses and reduced efficiency of recall. Both predictions were confirmed. Four instructional conditions preceding the word-association task failed to affect the conflict groups differentially, but personality and achievement instructions resulted in higher recall for both conflict groups. Some suggestions are offered for an improved measure of personality conflict. The results are discussed in terms of the conflict-variability hypothesis, and some implications are drawn for research on creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some relationships between manifest anxiety, authoritarian tendencies, and modes of reaction to frustration.

The relationship between authoritarianism and mental health was studied; authoritarianism was measured by the F scale, anxiety by the Taylor Scale, and reactions to frustration by the Child-Waterhouse scale. All intercorrelations of the scales were low but statistically significant. Correlations of authoritarianism and anxiety with each other, and each with intra- and extrapunitive tendencies were in the positive direction, and both correlated negatively with constructive resolutions of frustrating situations. 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental manipulation of authoritarianism and its effect on creativity.

Examined the hypothesis that authoritarianism and creativity may be opposite poles of the same continuum. 500 undergraduates were administered the California F Scale and the Personal Opinion Survey measure of creativity. A total of 80 Ss were chosen to fit 4 groups: males high in authoritarianism and low in creativity, females high in authoritarianism and low in creativity, males high in creativity and low in authoritarianism, and females high in creativity and low in authoritarianism. A modified Asch-type conformity situation was used to see if changing authoritarianism would affect creativity scores. All 4 groups had their authoritarianism manipulated in the predicted direction, and this resulted in changed creativity scores for all groups except the high-authoritarian males. Results support the hypothesis. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism and "Tolerance of Trait Inconsistency."

The California F Scale was found to correlate positively with a paper-and-pencil measure of propensity to expect people to be thoroughly good or thoroughly bad. As a further explanation of this relationship, Ss in a laboratory situation were given mildly derogatory information about one respected partner and nonderogatory information about another respected partner. Ss who had scored high on the F Scale resisted the mildly derogatory information and continued to rate their 2 partners about equally favorably. Low F Ss lowered their evaluations of the partner about whom mildly derogatory information had been received and gave their 2 partners final ratings which were more unequally favorable than those given by high scorers. Low F Ss also conformed more unequally to the judgments expressed by the 2 partners than did high scorers. These experimental findings are interpreted to reflect the greater reluctance of high scorers to believe that "good people" possess a mixture of good and bad attributes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of hostility to authoritarianism.

A manifest hostility scale, consisting of items drawn from the MMPI, and the Elizur Rorschach Content Test were given to groups differing in degree of authoritarianism. Statistical analysis of the relationship between the manifest hostility scale and authoritarianism indicated that groups high on the dimension of authoritarianism have greater overt hostility than groups lower on this dimension. Results relevant to the relationship between the Rorschach Content Test and authoritarianism indicated a less certain tendency for groups low on the dimension of authoritarianism to have greater covert hostility than groups higher on this dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health-related quality of life varies with personality types: a comparison among cancer patients, non-cancer patients and healthy individuals in a Japanese population

In an attempt to examine differential effects of personality on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) without regard to disease type, we used the HRQoL-20, a general questionnaire (Japanese original scale) we developed (comprising 20 questions related to physiological, psychological or social HRQoL) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), which measures personality traits of extraversion (E), neuroticism (N) and psychoticism (P). The subjects (399 males and 429 females), stomach cancer patients, non-cancer patients (who had received acupuncture or moxibustion treatment) and healthy controls, were classified into three personality types. The results indicated that the HRQoL score of the tolerable/tolerant type (high E, low N and high P scorers) was greater than the intolerable/intolerant type (low E, high N and low P scorers) and also the unclassified type (neither of above scorers). The HRQoL correlated positively with the E and P scales and negatively with the N scale, in the case of all subjects, with the exception of N in male cancer patients and E in male non-cancer patients. The results supported the hypothesis that the HRQoL varies with personality variables, in that each patient, in different treatment settings, strives for the situation that is congruent with his/her personality to attain a better HRQoL.     

Parental attitudes associated with social deviance in preadolescent boys.

On the assumption that interpersonal behavior of children is a product of parental attitude, peer evaluations of dimensions of interpersonal behavior such as aggression, dependency, withdrawal, depression, and likeability were correlated with responses by parents on a specially devised attitude scale which yielded measures on such dimensions as ambivalence, strictness, punitiveness, encouragement of autonomy, model identity, and a measure of parental adjustment. Among the peer group ratings, likeability was negatively correlated with the other dimensions. The parental attitudes that correlated with boys judged by their peers to be socially deviant were: ambivalence, punitiveness, restrictiveness, and low maternal self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of subject and experimenter sex with the body percept in verbal concept identification.

Classified 64 male and 64 female undergraduates as having a high or low body percept based on Holtzman Inkblot Technique scores. Ss were then given a task involving verbal concept identification of body parts. Variables measured included verbal concept identification, talk time, number of responses, intelligence, and abstract ability. The Es were 1 male and 1 female, each of whom tested 1/2 of Ss of each sex. When paired with Es of the same sex, high percept Ss solved the problem sooner and talked more. The opposite occurred for low percept scorers. Solution also came more quickly for high percept Ss. (38 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Midlife women's generativity and authoritarianism: Marriage, motherhood, and 10 years of aging.

Generativity and authoritarianism assessed at age 52 were correlated with criterion variables assessed at age 62 in a sample of well-educated women (N = 81). Results indicated that generativity predicted positive personality characteristics, satisfaction with marriage and motherhood, and successful aging. By contrast, although authoritarianism is linked in the literature to endorsing traditional gender roles, authoritarianism was uncorrelated in the current study with happiness about marriage and was negatively related to perceptions of motherhood. Furthermore, authoritarianism was correlated with neuroticism later in life. These data suggest that midlife authoritarianism may be problematic as women transition from their 50s to their 60s. Midlife generativity, in contrast, seems to offer one path to life satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)