Authoritarianism, punitiveness, and perceived social status.

Ss were 101 introductory psychology students, 48 of whom were high scorers and 53 of whom were low scorers on an authoritarianism scale. A series of 24 separate stimulus cards of a semiprojective nature similar to the Rosenzweig pictures studied some of the interrelationships among authoritarianism, punitiveness, and status. The data indicate that low authoritarians respond to frustrators independently of their status. "… punitiveness is a function of both the personality of the individual and the particular stimulus environment that elicits the behavior." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)