Academic family background predicts authoritarian dispositions and elite career ambitions.

Evidence

Those of the students questioned who showed authoritarian potential came more often from homes with an academic tradition, and those who showed democratic potential came more often from homes without any academic tradition. Among the former, top professional positions were the goal both in terms of objective career prospects and in terms of subjective ambitions, while among the latter more modest positions were aimed at. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 581

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Institute’s family research and the finding that paternal authority within families diminishes with unemployment. — connects to: Parenthood raises authoritarianism while higher education lowers it — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1186; Adult authoritarianism shifts with education, parenthood, and era; Family background splits into financial, human, and social capital that affect achievement differently — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 139 (+12 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Parenthood raises authoritarianism while higher education lowers it — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1186; Adult authoritarianism shifts with education, parenthood, and era; Family background splits into financial, human, and social capital that affect achievement differently — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 139 (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Authoritarian traits may cohere from low education and SES, not psychodynamics #complicates (0.79) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 653
• Perceived status marginality drives authoritarian parenting more than objective class #complicates (0.78)
• Authoritarian-personality findings may reflect cultural associations, not personality dynamics #complicates (0.75)
• Self-identified socialist students show surprisingly high authoritarianism unlike socialist parents #complicates (0.74) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2785
• Individual variation in authoritarianism results from heterogeneous life experiences plus genetic factors #complicates (0.72) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1056
• Having children reverses the drop in authoritarianism caused by university education #complicates (0.71) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1115