Authoritarianism arises from social learning about threat, not harsh parenting

Evidence

Altemeyer (1981, 1998) found that his own and others’ research disconfirmed Adorno et al.’s psychoanalytic theory of the childhood origins of authoritarianism. He found no associations between authoritarianism and harsh, punitive parental socialization; rather, he suggested that authoritarianism results from social learning (i.e., from having been socialized to see the social world as a dangerous and threatening place). This finding has been well replicated (Duckitt, 2001; McFarland, 1998; McFarland & Adelson, 1996) and is consistent with earlier research that found significant associations between authoritarianism and perceived social threat (e.g., Feldman & Stenner, 1997; Sales, 1973). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2451

Altemeyer (1981, 1998) found that his own and others’ research disconfirmed Adorno et al.’s psychoanalytic theory of the childhood origins of authoritarianism. He found no associations between authoritarianism and harsh, punitive parental socialization; rather, he suggested that authoritarianism results from social learning (i.e., from having been socialized to see the social world as a dangerous and threatening place). This finding has been well replicated (Duckitt, 2001; McFarland, 1998; McFarland & Adelson, 1996) and is consistent with earlier research that found significant associations between authoritarianism and perceived social threat (e.g., Feldman & Stenner, 1997; Sales, 1973). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2451

Categorization

• XREF: Contradicts the Adorno/psychoanalytic model of authoritarian personality origins; connects to Duckitt’s dual-process threat-based accounts. — connects to: Authoritarian children result not only from patriarchal modeling but from the family’s failed protection. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 751; Rigid distant fathers and self-sacrificing mothers raise children prone to authoritarian personality — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 443; Harsh child-rearing produces an authoritarian personality supporting discriminatory politics. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 450
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2451; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2451