The F scale collapsed due to poor psychometrics and unsupported psychodynamic theory

Evidence

As already noted, in the years after the publication of The Nature of Prejudice, the popularity of the psychodynamic approach to stereotyping and prejudice declined. Previously, it had enjoyed at least some prominence among social psychologists. One example is research on the authoritarian personality (Adorno et al., 1950), in which prejudice was theorized to be characteristic of a particular kind of person (authoritarians) whose weak egos were in constant need of protection. Unfortunately, this research was criticized for methodological and psychometric flaws, including susceptibility to response sets and experimenter expectancies, and a reliance on a small unrepresentative sample for norming (see Duckitt, ch. 24 this volume). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2374 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: The F Scale’s validity sparked a lasting methodological controversy — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 743; The F-scale was never validated across differing social groups and conditions. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1765; Adorno’s F-scale methodology reduced a complex theory of prejudice to individual psychopathology. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1332 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Authoritarian personality research declined due to methodological and psychometric flaws #corroborates (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2374