The statements show a great deal of
indulgence
in what is seen as "righteous indignation" about people considered as inferior.
Adorno-T-Authoritarian-Personality-Harper-Bros-1950
) Well, I'd like someone .
.
.
with a good personality who mixes well with people.
Someone who at the same time is serious about the future.
My boy friend is an engineer.
"
By contrast, low-scoring subjects tend to emphasize as desired traits com- panionship, common interest, warmth, sociability, sexual love, understand- ing, presence of liberal values. Sometimes their quest for love is so intense and unrealistic that it becomes a source of disappointment to them. This search for the "great romantic love" seems to be based on a wish to restore a successful early relation with a parent, based on nurturance and succor-
? THE AUTHORIT ARIAN PERSONALITY
ance. As they were found to be for parents, expressions of passionate love for sex partners are generally infrequent in our interview material, however. Two records may suffice to illustrate, each in its own way, the different quality of what low-scoring subjects expect from their partners as well as a
certain pervasive tendency toward self-blame.
F34: She talks of looking forward to marriage and children eventually, but she has modest financial requirements for a husband. She has had many boy friends and is the "romantic type. " "I always want to feel this is my great love-and then it isn't. That sort of thing is all right when you are in school. But nowadays when your boy friend goes away to war and you write letters and build up a lot of things that may not even be there-it isn't fair to either person. " She has been "sort of engaged" for two years to a boy she knew in school. He has been overseas in the navy and they have written regularly-romantic letters. She goes out with other boys and he knows this and doesn't object. She hasn't fallen in love with anyone else, but her worry is that her feeling for him is not love. He came home on furlough, and his family, who live in now, had her come down to their home and stay there for several days while he was there. She feels that he sensed that she did not feel the same, and yet she could not bring herself to say anything. She believes this was very cowardly of her and shows an absence of character. She thinks it is quite possible the boy's feelings have changed too, "but why can't people be honest about things like that? And now he is gone and nothing is settled. "
M44: Subject says that in visiting someone at the hospital, his wife seems to know naturally just how to act toward the person, or, at a public meeting1mows just what kind of questions to ask to draw the person out further instead of shutting him up. "And she is a helper, she is the helpingest person, the most willing and helping person that I've ever known. "
7. CONVENTIONALITY VS. INDIVIDUALISM
Again, as in other areas of life, the values of high-scoring subjects with respect to sex tend to be conventionally determined as opposed to the more individualized values of low-scoring subjects (Category 2 7). This variable differentiates significantly (at the I per cent level) between high- and low- scoring men; a similar trend, I 8 positive and 7 negative instances, is found in women; because of the large proportion of "Neutrals," however, the dif- ference is not statistically significant.
The following records show that in the choice of their mates high-scoring subjects tend to place a great deal of emphasis on socioeconomic status, church membership, and conformity with conventional values. The accent is on what is generally socially approved and accepted. Thus the men expect their future wives to stay home, take care of house and children, and attend church. This tendency is often found in the same men who show evidence of primitive and crude sex experience, outside of marriage (see above).
The conventional approach to marriage is best illustrated by the follow- ing records of high-scoring women:
Fp: "Well, I think that because of the society in which we live, young people
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 403
miss a great deal by not being married in the church of their faith. They lose the reverence for marriage and don't learn the true meaning of ? the marriage vows, when it is done so commercially (in a public office). I think that when people are married in church-by that I don't mean a large wedding necessarily-they have one of the most beautiful experiences of their lives. . . . The thing which the church can teach youth is 'to choose. '" By this, she means principally the choice between right and wrong, but also to choose one's friends. "In a church group one meets the right kind of young people; not the kind who hang around the lake shore at night. "
F78: "It was just love at first sight. He has brown hair, brown eyes, white teeth, not handsome, but good clean-cut looking; beautiful smile; mixes well, easy to get along with but has a will of his own. He's lots of fun, interested in everything. He's a high school graduate, now a mechanic in the ground crew of the Naval Air Transport. He wants to go into something in the mechanical line. Before the war he was an apprentice in the auto industry. . . . " The vocation of her husband really wouldn't matter. She thinks boy friend has good chances of getting along, definitely. She would like a profession-"sort of middle class. "
F74: "Too much emotional feeling involved under these conditions. " (Desirable traits? ) Boy friend should be about the same socioeconomic status. They should enjoy doing the same things and get along without too many quarrels.
Or in high-scoring men:
Ms8: (Wife like? ) "Very good person. She has gone to church, and has con- tinued to . . . ever since the child was born. A very good wife, good mother, and darned good cook. Considerate of my folks . . . helped my mother with money, of her own accord. (What do wife and subject offer each other? ) Well, I'll be dog- goned if I know. Doesn't seem as if any bonds at all. Just she belongs there and so do I. "
M2o: "In my mind, there's no doubt about it. Woman's place is in the home. . . . To keep up a home and make it right and a man should be able to provide for the family. . . . A woman has no business working whatsoever. "
In contrast with the stereotyped and conventional description of their desired or real mates given by the high-scoring subjects, the typical low- scoring subject takes a much more individualized attitude, as shown in the following quotations:
M53: (What sort of girl appeals to you? ) "I don't know. . . . I think I like the ones with more independent spirit. (Q) Well, looks, charm (laughs), humor and a cer- tain freedom of spirit. In thought, I think, more than in action. . . . (Present fiancee? ) Awfully hard to say when you're sold on a girl. . . . Seems to have all the things I like . . . fun to be with, brains, pretty. She likes me, which is important. We share things together. Music, reading, swimming, dancing. Most of the things we do don't require too much energy, which makes it good. "
Mso: (What about your first wife? ) "She was an artist also and a really thorough- going individual. She had a tremendous amount of scope, both intellectually and individually. She is looking for something too. Not as serious as my case, just the case of a girl marrying the wrong person. "
M44: (What sort of person is your wife? ) (laughs) "She's a little bit easy to hurt or touchy about some things. . . . The most admirable thing, the most attractive thing about her is her hands. She has very small, delicate hands. She uses them very well and they're very expressive . . . and she also does things very fast, adept, sews
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
very well, very domestic, very much the mother. She was never really herself until she had this child, never really complete. "
M2: (Ideal woman? ) "She has to be (I) intelligent, (2) mature, (3) emotionally stable, (4) have adequate physiological characteristics, as well as have (5) culture and personality that goes with this. She should have at least as broad an inter- est and experience as my own, if not broader. She should have a maximum of femi- ninity, since we're all bisexual. You can think of it in terms of a polyfactorial setup (subject then quotes Rosanoff's theory of four factors in sex). "
The preceding descriptions by low-scoring subjects of their real ~r ideal mates reveal a conception of real people and an expectation of finding a person with "independent opinions" and "independent spirit. "
8. SUMMARY
Summarizing the attitude of the typical high-scoring subject toward mem-
bers of the opposite sex, the following may be said: A lack of individuation and of real object relationship can be found in the field of sex as it was previously found in the attitude toward the parents. It is this lack which may be called upon to explain the attitudes described above, such as the relative isolation of sexual impulses from the rest of the personality, the paucity of affection, and the somewhat exploitive, manipulative approach in the choice of a mate. Much of this may be understood in terms of disappoint- ments which apparently had been experienced by many of the extreme high- scorers in their first love-relations, those with their parents.
The same ambivalence which was found in the attitude toward parents can be found again in the sexual domain. Again there is surface admiration, coupled with underlying resentment against the other sex. Ambivalence also tends to be handled by establishing two separate images, one positive and one negative (good and bad women), without, however, being able really to love either of them.
Status-concern and conventionalized values again become predominant and take the place of a genuine and individualized approach. The expecta- tions of qualities in oneself and in one's mate are quite stereotyped and rigid. Shortcomings in these respects are faced as little as they are in other fields. Thus, as pointed out above, high-scoring subjects often think of themselves as the ideal representation of the conventional conception of their sex role.
The attitudes of the low-scoring subjects reveal a rather different picture, though it is much less clear-cut than that of the high scorers. In other words, the "High" variants of the categories in question are often more typical for the high-scoring subjects than the "Low" variants are for the low-scoring sub- jects. On the whole, our low scorers tend toward a more individualized, more internalized, more love-oriented approach toward their mates. (See also Chapter X. )
This does not mean, however, that in most of the cases their problems in
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 405
this field are readily solved. On the contrary, some of the records of low- scoring subjects quoted above reveal a great deal of conflict in this area. Such subjects refer rather frankly to their inadequacies, inhibitions, and failures in sex adjustment. There also is evidence of ambivalence toward one's own sex role and toward the opposite sex although this ambivalence is of a different, more internalized kind from the combination of overt admiration and underlying disrespect characteristic of high scorers. Its clearest repre- sentation is the conflict of the man about his passivity and of the woman about her tendency to follow masculine interests. Ambivalence toward the other sex seems in low scorers often to be the consequence of an overly intense search for love that is not easily satisfied.
Low-scoring men sometimes seem to long for a restoration, in a close relationship with a woman, of the type of love they received from the mother, and this may become a source of dissatisfaction. As Krout and Stagner (65) have shown, male liberals claim less . difficulty in expressing their affection for women and show preference for women of equal status. At the same time they experience more frustration in their love relations.
Low-scoring women, on the other hand, sometimes develop a conflict between the satisfactions derived from emotional dependence on the man and a striving for independence that leads to competition with men.
However, in spite of these conflicts, retardations, and ambivalences, there seems to be more actual or potential heterosexuality in low scorers. The interview material reveals a more genuine and more personalized relationship to members of the other sex, more fondness and ability to love in sexual relationships, more ego-accepted sensuality. Conflicts and inadequacies, being faced more openly, have a greater chance of being worked out successfully.
Since the typical low-scoring man more readily accepts his own femininity than the high scorer, and the low-scoring woman her masculine strivings, one important source of hidden aggression toward the opposite sex-and toward other people generally, as it seems-is reduced.
B. A TTITUDE TOW ARD PEOPLE
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND
QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
The part of the Scoring Manual covering social attitudes toward people in general is? as follows:
INTERVIEWSCORING MANUAL: A TTITUDE TOW ARD PEOPLE (to Table z(XI))
PRESUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTS PRESUMABLY "Low" VARIANTS z8. Moralistic condemnation 28. Permissiveness toward individ- uals; rejections rationalized by
reference to principles.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY 29a. Extrapunitiveness 29a. lmpunitiveness
29b.
30. Distrust-suspicion, people as 30. threatening; victimization; sur- vival of fittest idea, world as jungle
lntrapunitiveness; excessive guilt - feelings and self- re- proach
Trustingness. Openness; peo- ple essentially "good" until proved otherwise
3I a. Hierarchical conception of hu- man relations
3I b. Heroworshipofacquaintances 32a. Diffuse, ego-alien dependence;
non -love-seeking
32b. Exploitive- manipulative op-
3I a. Equalitarianism-mutuality
32a. Focal, love-seeking succorance
32b. Personalized nurturance
portunism
a. Status acceptable or admirable (economic or social)
b. Moral-conventional: clean-cut, good manners, emphasis on honesty, poise, control
a. Acceptable on grounds of in- trinsic worth; companionship and common interests; intel- lectual-aesthetic approach; "easy-going" traits; social awareness and insight; liberal
values
32c. Genuine object-cathexis 33? Traits desired in friends:
As can be seen from Table 2(XI), the eleven categories in this area dif- ferentiate satisfactorily, on the whole, the two extreme groups that make up our sample of interviewees.
2. MORALISTIC CONDEMNA TION VS. PERMISSIVENESS
High-scoring individuals were found to tend toward a moralistic con- demnation of other people while permissiveness toward individuals is more common in our low scorers (Category 28). For both men and women this difference is quite significant (I per cent level). For men there are 30 posi- tive instances as contrasted with only 4 negative ones ("positive" and "nega- tive" in the sense defined in the last section of Chapter IX); for women, the proportion is 24 to 6.
It is easy to understand why condemnation of people, based on an external and conventional set of values, should be closely connected with prejudice; in fact, such an attitude seems close to being the very essence of prejudice.
The records, quoted below, of subjects scoring high on overt ethno- centrism illustrate a readiness to condemn others on such external bases as absence of good manners, uncleanliness, "twitching the shoulders," saying "inappropriate" things (inappropriate, as will be seen, on a superficial level only), and so forth.
The statements show a great deal of indulgence in what is seen as "righteous indignation" about people considered as inferior. This indignation seems to serve the double purpose of externalizing what is unacceptable in oneself,
? Interview ratin~ cate~ories (abbreviated from Manual)
Sex
Number o f "High"(H} and "Low" (L} ratin~s received b~
Sums o{ instances Level 'of statistj. gal
"positive? ? negative? si~nificance reached
(percentage)
28. Moralistic condemnation(H) vs. Men
3 3
1 2
3 3
2 1
16 30 4 1 10 24 6 1
. . It 26 2 1
. ! . ! . ! ! . 4
1_~1 . ? _ . . . ? . . 2
14 285 1 . ll 28 7 1
11 233 1 11 243 1
permissiveness(L)
29a. Extrapunitiveness(H) \"S? impunitiveness(L)
29b. Intropunitiveness(L)
30. Distrust-suspicion(H) vs. trustingness
Women
Men Women
Men Women
Men Women
31a. Hierarchical conception(H) vs. Men equalitarianism-mutuality(L) Women
31b. Hero worship of acquaintances(H) Men Women
32a. Dependence, diffuse, ego-alien Men (H) vs~ focal, love-seeking(L) Women
32b. Exploitive-manipulation(H) vs. Men
1 . l1 0 . L0
personalized nurturance(L) 32c. Genuine object-cathexis(L)
Traits desired in friends: 33a. Status(H) vs. intrinsic
w o r t h ( L )
33b. Moral-convent ional(H)
Women
. ! l . ! .
3 3
3 1
1 0
TABLE 2 (XI)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON ATTITUDE TOWARD PEOPLE
FUR 80 SUBJECTS SOORING EXTRFMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE E'mNIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
20 men and 25 women ? high scorers" H L
14 1 14 3
17 1 15 2
1 2
14 2
. m 4
121 132
. 1 1
14 3 lQ 3
20 men and 15 women
? 1ow scorers" H L
10 24 6 1 1: I7 4 5
l! . ll. 4 . ! l ll 3
2 16234 1 0 10203 1
Men
Women 3 J! . 8 3
Men 7 Women 10
1
2 3
13 13 1 5
4 11 4
Men 11
Women11 3 IT3
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
and of displacing one's hostility which otherwise might turn against powerful "ingroups," e. g. , the parents.
Furthermore, the subsequent records presented in the following contain statements referring to a positive ideal of how one should behave, the essence of which is expressed by one of the subjects in this group who demands that everybody should have a "set of rules"; these rules turn out to be determined either by convention or by a shallow interpretation of church dogma. The emphasis on conventional values is found in the respectable as well as in the delinquent high scorer (prison inmate; see also Chapter XXI).
Examples, for the various aspects listed, from the records of high-scoring male prison inmates follow:
M4o: (What things offend you most in other people? ) "Just that they're people. (Meaning? ) Oh, the majority are ignorant, close to animals as anything else. I mean dumb animals. (Q) They haven't got sense enough to see things as they are; they are easily swayed, crude, uncouth; they are like a pack. Show 'em a leader and they
will go anywhere. (Are most people like this? ) Records show it. (What records? ) Statistics. (Q) Like in here (prison). The average IQ is something around 50 or 6o. Very, very low. . . . They carry a knife and cut some poor son-of-a-bitch, and think they're tough. . . . "
M41: (What do you find most offensive in others? ) "Well, some people are more attractive than others. Some people have no attraction. Don't take care of them? ? selves. Don't keep clean. Don't have manners. . . . "
M45: (What do you find most irritating in others? ) "Petty habits. (What do you mean? ) I've noticed some people have a habit of snorting or as if their nose is always running or twitching their shoulders or my wife's habit of picking at things with her fingernails. (Others? ) Not being able to tend to their own business, not having sense enough to understand, to know when they're imposing on you. . . . It's changed around here (in prison) now, getting so many of these young kids, zootsuiters, don't have any tact at all. . . . (What else? ) Greed, I can't stand anyone who will take something without thinking about the other person . . . without any politeness. . . . You'd be surprised. You can find some of the politest people in the world right in here. . . . I believe in helping your fellow man regardless. "
A positive ideal of behavior as derived primarily from religious conven- tion is stated in the following records of high scorers:
Mp: (Main differences between Christians and other people? ) "Christians are people that at all times strive to do what is right and abide by God's word. "
Ms8: ". . . and the person who has lived according to Christianity will live for- ever-those who have not will perish at that time. "
M4: (Importance of religion? ) "It's very important. It gives people an opportunity to utilize some of their extra energy, also helps to set a standard for behavior and conduct. Without religion, there would be a lot more crime and delinquency in the world. (Is the world getting better or worse? ) It's getting worse-the younger gen- eration is wilder, 17-year-old boys go out and get drunk; and science is responsible for all this, that is, provides motor cars for them to get out in, they start drinking. "
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 409
In the records of high-s~oring women there is a similar condemnation of people on moralistic and conventional grounds. Sometimes we find a general condemnation and contempt for an assumed inferiority of people which is quite similar to the statement of one of the high-scoring men, quoted above, to the effect that the "majority (of people) are ignorant, close to animals. . . I mean dumb animals. " While rejection of other people is more common in high scorers, low scorers tend more toward self-rejection.
Illustrations from records of high-scoring women follow.
F66: (Why not social welfare? ) "Well, some of the people you see-I just don't like them. I don't think I'd have enough patience to help them. . . . (Why not social activities? ) I didn't like the people. "re had just moved there and they just weren't my kind. (Q) They were too cliquish and infantile. They were silly, always gig- gling, wore jeans and dirty old plaid shirts. . . . "
F24: (Low income group? ) "They don't think fast enough-can't make it. They haven't educated themselves for any line. Most people are like that all their lives. (Maybe they haven't had opportunities? ) There's a way-there's always a way if
they care enough. Maybe it's tough, but eventually you can get there. "
F22: "I don't go in for petting; I can't see necking for hours either. (Q) I've been shocked by the conduct of my girl friends. I didn't think they were that type of
girl. "
By contrast, low-scoring subjects tend to be permissive and tolerant toward individuals (although not necessarily toward institutions). Or at least they make an attempt to understand behavior from a common sense (if not professional) psychological or sociological point of view; and they show generally more empathy. Whenever rejection of individuals occurs, an at- tempt is usually made to explain or to rationalize this rejection on the basis of violation of fundamental principles and social values rather than for surface reasons.
3. EXTRAPUNITIVENESS
Another attitude, quite directly akin to prejudice, is that of extrapunitive- ness, to use Rosenzweig's term (I6), i. e. , a tendency to blame other people rather than oneself. As has been repeatedly pointed out in this volume, lack of insight into one's own shortcomings and the projection of one's own weak- nesses and faults onto others is often found in high-scoring subjects. It prob- ably represents the essential aspect of the mechanism of scapegoating.
An opposite variant to extrapunitiveness is impunitiveness, i. e. , the tend- ency to refrain from blaming altogether, be it others or oneself.
The differential distribution of this pair of opposites (Category 29a) with respect to overt ethnocentrism is quite significant for men (I per cent level)-26 positive and only 2 negative instances. For women there is a distinct trend in the same direction-I 8 positive as contrasted with 4 nega- tive instances-but it is not statistically significant.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
An "extrapunitive" attitude is manifested in the descriptions given by the following high-scoring women about t;heir co-workers, fellow students or teachers:
F6o: Subject just doesn't care for her fellow workers. "Some have all the PDQ's (degrees) but no common sense. " She wouldn't like to mention names, but she'd like to tell me what goes on. "Some just spend their time gossiping together. " She doesn't believe she should do more than just speak to her fellow workers. Very scornful of them, feels superior and aloof. They don't know her at all-no, indeed-implies she's a very special somebody and could reveal her gifts to them, but doesn't. She de- scribes how she treated masturbation. The others were afraid to stop the children. But she just "popped" the little boys' and girls' hands and said, "Now, don't do that. It isn't good for you. "
F71: Sister president of sorority in high school and of interclub council; thinks high school sororities "stupid and silly-dirty rushing, girls misplaced in clubs. Nothing as selfish and cruel as a little high school girl growing up. Noisy-no atten- tion to business-it was just too much. " Talks about high school teacher-thinks her aspiration level too high. "Too much screaming and yelling-has theateritis-pol- ished and professional-too many students broke down-you have to be stone to take it. "
Fn, although talking about her mother, reveals her general attitude toward people in the following quotation: "This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gone down.
By contrast, low-scoring subjects tend to emphasize as desired traits com- panionship, common interest, warmth, sociability, sexual love, understand- ing, presence of liberal values. Sometimes their quest for love is so intense and unrealistic that it becomes a source of disappointment to them. This search for the "great romantic love" seems to be based on a wish to restore a successful early relation with a parent, based on nurturance and succor-
? THE AUTHORIT ARIAN PERSONALITY
ance. As they were found to be for parents, expressions of passionate love for sex partners are generally infrequent in our interview material, however. Two records may suffice to illustrate, each in its own way, the different quality of what low-scoring subjects expect from their partners as well as a
certain pervasive tendency toward self-blame.
F34: She talks of looking forward to marriage and children eventually, but she has modest financial requirements for a husband. She has had many boy friends and is the "romantic type. " "I always want to feel this is my great love-and then it isn't. That sort of thing is all right when you are in school. But nowadays when your boy friend goes away to war and you write letters and build up a lot of things that may not even be there-it isn't fair to either person. " She has been "sort of engaged" for two years to a boy she knew in school. He has been overseas in the navy and they have written regularly-romantic letters. She goes out with other boys and he knows this and doesn't object. She hasn't fallen in love with anyone else, but her worry is that her feeling for him is not love. He came home on furlough, and his family, who live in now, had her come down to their home and stay there for several days while he was there. She feels that he sensed that she did not feel the same, and yet she could not bring herself to say anything. She believes this was very cowardly of her and shows an absence of character. She thinks it is quite possible the boy's feelings have changed too, "but why can't people be honest about things like that? And now he is gone and nothing is settled. "
M44: Subject says that in visiting someone at the hospital, his wife seems to know naturally just how to act toward the person, or, at a public meeting1mows just what kind of questions to ask to draw the person out further instead of shutting him up. "And she is a helper, she is the helpingest person, the most willing and helping person that I've ever known. "
7. CONVENTIONALITY VS. INDIVIDUALISM
Again, as in other areas of life, the values of high-scoring subjects with respect to sex tend to be conventionally determined as opposed to the more individualized values of low-scoring subjects (Category 2 7). This variable differentiates significantly (at the I per cent level) between high- and low- scoring men; a similar trend, I 8 positive and 7 negative instances, is found in women; because of the large proportion of "Neutrals," however, the dif- ference is not statistically significant.
The following records show that in the choice of their mates high-scoring subjects tend to place a great deal of emphasis on socioeconomic status, church membership, and conformity with conventional values. The accent is on what is generally socially approved and accepted. Thus the men expect their future wives to stay home, take care of house and children, and attend church. This tendency is often found in the same men who show evidence of primitive and crude sex experience, outside of marriage (see above).
The conventional approach to marriage is best illustrated by the follow- ing records of high-scoring women:
Fp: "Well, I think that because of the society in which we live, young people
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 403
miss a great deal by not being married in the church of their faith. They lose the reverence for marriage and don't learn the true meaning of ? the marriage vows, when it is done so commercially (in a public office). I think that when people are married in church-by that I don't mean a large wedding necessarily-they have one of the most beautiful experiences of their lives. . . . The thing which the church can teach youth is 'to choose. '" By this, she means principally the choice between right and wrong, but also to choose one's friends. "In a church group one meets the right kind of young people; not the kind who hang around the lake shore at night. "
F78: "It was just love at first sight. He has brown hair, brown eyes, white teeth, not handsome, but good clean-cut looking; beautiful smile; mixes well, easy to get along with but has a will of his own. He's lots of fun, interested in everything. He's a high school graduate, now a mechanic in the ground crew of the Naval Air Transport. He wants to go into something in the mechanical line. Before the war he was an apprentice in the auto industry. . . . " The vocation of her husband really wouldn't matter. She thinks boy friend has good chances of getting along, definitely. She would like a profession-"sort of middle class. "
F74: "Too much emotional feeling involved under these conditions. " (Desirable traits? ) Boy friend should be about the same socioeconomic status. They should enjoy doing the same things and get along without too many quarrels.
Or in high-scoring men:
Ms8: (Wife like? ) "Very good person. She has gone to church, and has con- tinued to . . . ever since the child was born. A very good wife, good mother, and darned good cook. Considerate of my folks . . . helped my mother with money, of her own accord. (What do wife and subject offer each other? ) Well, I'll be dog- goned if I know. Doesn't seem as if any bonds at all. Just she belongs there and so do I. "
M2o: "In my mind, there's no doubt about it. Woman's place is in the home. . . . To keep up a home and make it right and a man should be able to provide for the family. . . . A woman has no business working whatsoever. "
In contrast with the stereotyped and conventional description of their desired or real mates given by the high-scoring subjects, the typical low- scoring subject takes a much more individualized attitude, as shown in the following quotations:
M53: (What sort of girl appeals to you? ) "I don't know. . . . I think I like the ones with more independent spirit. (Q) Well, looks, charm (laughs), humor and a cer- tain freedom of spirit. In thought, I think, more than in action. . . . (Present fiancee? ) Awfully hard to say when you're sold on a girl. . . . Seems to have all the things I like . . . fun to be with, brains, pretty. She likes me, which is important. We share things together. Music, reading, swimming, dancing. Most of the things we do don't require too much energy, which makes it good. "
Mso: (What about your first wife? ) "She was an artist also and a really thorough- going individual. She had a tremendous amount of scope, both intellectually and individually. She is looking for something too. Not as serious as my case, just the case of a girl marrying the wrong person. "
M44: (What sort of person is your wife? ) (laughs) "She's a little bit easy to hurt or touchy about some things. . . . The most admirable thing, the most attractive thing about her is her hands. She has very small, delicate hands. She uses them very well and they're very expressive . . . and she also does things very fast, adept, sews
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
very well, very domestic, very much the mother. She was never really herself until she had this child, never really complete. "
M2: (Ideal woman? ) "She has to be (I) intelligent, (2) mature, (3) emotionally stable, (4) have adequate physiological characteristics, as well as have (5) culture and personality that goes with this. She should have at least as broad an inter- est and experience as my own, if not broader. She should have a maximum of femi- ninity, since we're all bisexual. You can think of it in terms of a polyfactorial setup (subject then quotes Rosanoff's theory of four factors in sex). "
The preceding descriptions by low-scoring subjects of their real ~r ideal mates reveal a conception of real people and an expectation of finding a person with "independent opinions" and "independent spirit. "
8. SUMMARY
Summarizing the attitude of the typical high-scoring subject toward mem-
bers of the opposite sex, the following may be said: A lack of individuation and of real object relationship can be found in the field of sex as it was previously found in the attitude toward the parents. It is this lack which may be called upon to explain the attitudes described above, such as the relative isolation of sexual impulses from the rest of the personality, the paucity of affection, and the somewhat exploitive, manipulative approach in the choice of a mate. Much of this may be understood in terms of disappoint- ments which apparently had been experienced by many of the extreme high- scorers in their first love-relations, those with their parents.
The same ambivalence which was found in the attitude toward parents can be found again in the sexual domain. Again there is surface admiration, coupled with underlying resentment against the other sex. Ambivalence also tends to be handled by establishing two separate images, one positive and one negative (good and bad women), without, however, being able really to love either of them.
Status-concern and conventionalized values again become predominant and take the place of a genuine and individualized approach. The expecta- tions of qualities in oneself and in one's mate are quite stereotyped and rigid. Shortcomings in these respects are faced as little as they are in other fields. Thus, as pointed out above, high-scoring subjects often think of themselves as the ideal representation of the conventional conception of their sex role.
The attitudes of the low-scoring subjects reveal a rather different picture, though it is much less clear-cut than that of the high scorers. In other words, the "High" variants of the categories in question are often more typical for the high-scoring subjects than the "Low" variants are for the low-scoring sub- jects. On the whole, our low scorers tend toward a more individualized, more internalized, more love-oriented approach toward their mates. (See also Chapter X. )
This does not mean, however, that in most of the cases their problems in
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 405
this field are readily solved. On the contrary, some of the records of low- scoring subjects quoted above reveal a great deal of conflict in this area. Such subjects refer rather frankly to their inadequacies, inhibitions, and failures in sex adjustment. There also is evidence of ambivalence toward one's own sex role and toward the opposite sex although this ambivalence is of a different, more internalized kind from the combination of overt admiration and underlying disrespect characteristic of high scorers. Its clearest repre- sentation is the conflict of the man about his passivity and of the woman about her tendency to follow masculine interests. Ambivalence toward the other sex seems in low scorers often to be the consequence of an overly intense search for love that is not easily satisfied.
Low-scoring men sometimes seem to long for a restoration, in a close relationship with a woman, of the type of love they received from the mother, and this may become a source of dissatisfaction. As Krout and Stagner (65) have shown, male liberals claim less . difficulty in expressing their affection for women and show preference for women of equal status. At the same time they experience more frustration in their love relations.
Low-scoring women, on the other hand, sometimes develop a conflict between the satisfactions derived from emotional dependence on the man and a striving for independence that leads to competition with men.
However, in spite of these conflicts, retardations, and ambivalences, there seems to be more actual or potential heterosexuality in low scorers. The interview material reveals a more genuine and more personalized relationship to members of the other sex, more fondness and ability to love in sexual relationships, more ego-accepted sensuality. Conflicts and inadequacies, being faced more openly, have a greater chance of being worked out successfully.
Since the typical low-scoring man more readily accepts his own femininity than the high scorer, and the low-scoring woman her masculine strivings, one important source of hidden aggression toward the opposite sex-and toward other people generally, as it seems-is reduced.
B. A TTITUDE TOW ARD PEOPLE
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND
QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
The part of the Scoring Manual covering social attitudes toward people in general is? as follows:
INTERVIEWSCORING MANUAL: A TTITUDE TOW ARD PEOPLE (to Table z(XI))
PRESUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTS PRESUMABLY "Low" VARIANTS z8. Moralistic condemnation 28. Permissiveness toward individ- uals; rejections rationalized by
reference to principles.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY 29a. Extrapunitiveness 29a. lmpunitiveness
29b.
30. Distrust-suspicion, people as 30. threatening; victimization; sur- vival of fittest idea, world as jungle
lntrapunitiveness; excessive guilt - feelings and self- re- proach
Trustingness. Openness; peo- ple essentially "good" until proved otherwise
3I a. Hierarchical conception of hu- man relations
3I b. Heroworshipofacquaintances 32a. Diffuse, ego-alien dependence;
non -love-seeking
32b. Exploitive- manipulative op-
3I a. Equalitarianism-mutuality
32a. Focal, love-seeking succorance
32b. Personalized nurturance
portunism
a. Status acceptable or admirable (economic or social)
b. Moral-conventional: clean-cut, good manners, emphasis on honesty, poise, control
a. Acceptable on grounds of in- trinsic worth; companionship and common interests; intel- lectual-aesthetic approach; "easy-going" traits; social awareness and insight; liberal
values
32c. Genuine object-cathexis 33? Traits desired in friends:
As can be seen from Table 2(XI), the eleven categories in this area dif- ferentiate satisfactorily, on the whole, the two extreme groups that make up our sample of interviewees.
2. MORALISTIC CONDEMNA TION VS. PERMISSIVENESS
High-scoring individuals were found to tend toward a moralistic con- demnation of other people while permissiveness toward individuals is more common in our low scorers (Category 28). For both men and women this difference is quite significant (I per cent level). For men there are 30 posi- tive instances as contrasted with only 4 negative ones ("positive" and "nega- tive" in the sense defined in the last section of Chapter IX); for women, the proportion is 24 to 6.
It is easy to understand why condemnation of people, based on an external and conventional set of values, should be closely connected with prejudice; in fact, such an attitude seems close to being the very essence of prejudice.
The records, quoted below, of subjects scoring high on overt ethno- centrism illustrate a readiness to condemn others on such external bases as absence of good manners, uncleanliness, "twitching the shoulders," saying "inappropriate" things (inappropriate, as will be seen, on a superficial level only), and so forth.
The statements show a great deal of indulgence in what is seen as "righteous indignation" about people considered as inferior. This indignation seems to serve the double purpose of externalizing what is unacceptable in oneself,
? Interview ratin~ cate~ories (abbreviated from Manual)
Sex
Number o f "High"(H} and "Low" (L} ratin~s received b~
Sums o{ instances Level 'of statistj. gal
"positive? ? negative? si~nificance reached
(percentage)
28. Moralistic condemnation(H) vs. Men
3 3
1 2
3 3
2 1
16 30 4 1 10 24 6 1
. . It 26 2 1
. ! . ! . ! ! . 4
1_~1 . ? _ . . . ? . . 2
14 285 1 . ll 28 7 1
11 233 1 11 243 1
permissiveness(L)
29a. Extrapunitiveness(H) \"S? impunitiveness(L)
29b. Intropunitiveness(L)
30. Distrust-suspicion(H) vs. trustingness
Women
Men Women
Men Women
Men Women
31a. Hierarchical conception(H) vs. Men equalitarianism-mutuality(L) Women
31b. Hero worship of acquaintances(H) Men Women
32a. Dependence, diffuse, ego-alien Men (H) vs~ focal, love-seeking(L) Women
32b. Exploitive-manipulation(H) vs. Men
1 . l1 0 . L0
personalized nurturance(L) 32c. Genuine object-cathexis(L)
Traits desired in friends: 33a. Status(H) vs. intrinsic
w o r t h ( L )
33b. Moral-convent ional(H)
Women
. ! l . ! .
3 3
3 1
1 0
TABLE 2 (XI)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON ATTITUDE TOWARD PEOPLE
FUR 80 SUBJECTS SOORING EXTRFMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE E'mNIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
20 men and 25 women ? high scorers" H L
14 1 14 3
17 1 15 2
1 2
14 2
. m 4
121 132
. 1 1
14 3 lQ 3
20 men and 15 women
? 1ow scorers" H L
10 24 6 1 1: I7 4 5
l! . ll. 4 . ! l ll 3
2 16234 1 0 10203 1
Men
Women 3 J! . 8 3
Men 7 Women 10
1
2 3
13 13 1 5
4 11 4
Men 11
Women11 3 IT3
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
and of displacing one's hostility which otherwise might turn against powerful "ingroups," e. g. , the parents.
Furthermore, the subsequent records presented in the following contain statements referring to a positive ideal of how one should behave, the essence of which is expressed by one of the subjects in this group who demands that everybody should have a "set of rules"; these rules turn out to be determined either by convention or by a shallow interpretation of church dogma. The emphasis on conventional values is found in the respectable as well as in the delinquent high scorer (prison inmate; see also Chapter XXI).
Examples, for the various aspects listed, from the records of high-scoring male prison inmates follow:
M4o: (What things offend you most in other people? ) "Just that they're people. (Meaning? ) Oh, the majority are ignorant, close to animals as anything else. I mean dumb animals. (Q) They haven't got sense enough to see things as they are; they are easily swayed, crude, uncouth; they are like a pack. Show 'em a leader and they
will go anywhere. (Are most people like this? ) Records show it. (What records? ) Statistics. (Q) Like in here (prison). The average IQ is something around 50 or 6o. Very, very low. . . . They carry a knife and cut some poor son-of-a-bitch, and think they're tough. . . . "
M41: (What do you find most offensive in others? ) "Well, some people are more attractive than others. Some people have no attraction. Don't take care of them? ? selves. Don't keep clean. Don't have manners. . . . "
M45: (What do you find most irritating in others? ) "Petty habits. (What do you mean? ) I've noticed some people have a habit of snorting or as if their nose is always running or twitching their shoulders or my wife's habit of picking at things with her fingernails. (Others? ) Not being able to tend to their own business, not having sense enough to understand, to know when they're imposing on you. . . . It's changed around here (in prison) now, getting so many of these young kids, zootsuiters, don't have any tact at all. . . . (What else? ) Greed, I can't stand anyone who will take something without thinking about the other person . . . without any politeness. . . . You'd be surprised. You can find some of the politest people in the world right in here. . . . I believe in helping your fellow man regardless. "
A positive ideal of behavior as derived primarily from religious conven- tion is stated in the following records of high scorers:
Mp: (Main differences between Christians and other people? ) "Christians are people that at all times strive to do what is right and abide by God's word. "
Ms8: ". . . and the person who has lived according to Christianity will live for- ever-those who have not will perish at that time. "
M4: (Importance of religion? ) "It's very important. It gives people an opportunity to utilize some of their extra energy, also helps to set a standard for behavior and conduct. Without religion, there would be a lot more crime and delinquency in the world. (Is the world getting better or worse? ) It's getting worse-the younger gen- eration is wilder, 17-year-old boys go out and get drunk; and science is responsible for all this, that is, provides motor cars for them to get out in, they start drinking. "
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 409
In the records of high-s~oring women there is a similar condemnation of people on moralistic and conventional grounds. Sometimes we find a general condemnation and contempt for an assumed inferiority of people which is quite similar to the statement of one of the high-scoring men, quoted above, to the effect that the "majority (of people) are ignorant, close to animals. . . I mean dumb animals. " While rejection of other people is more common in high scorers, low scorers tend more toward self-rejection.
Illustrations from records of high-scoring women follow.
F66: (Why not social welfare? ) "Well, some of the people you see-I just don't like them. I don't think I'd have enough patience to help them. . . . (Why not social activities? ) I didn't like the people. "re had just moved there and they just weren't my kind. (Q) They were too cliquish and infantile. They were silly, always gig- gling, wore jeans and dirty old plaid shirts. . . . "
F24: (Low income group? ) "They don't think fast enough-can't make it. They haven't educated themselves for any line. Most people are like that all their lives. (Maybe they haven't had opportunities? ) There's a way-there's always a way if
they care enough. Maybe it's tough, but eventually you can get there. "
F22: "I don't go in for petting; I can't see necking for hours either. (Q) I've been shocked by the conduct of my girl friends. I didn't think they were that type of
girl. "
By contrast, low-scoring subjects tend to be permissive and tolerant toward individuals (although not necessarily toward institutions). Or at least they make an attempt to understand behavior from a common sense (if not professional) psychological or sociological point of view; and they show generally more empathy. Whenever rejection of individuals occurs, an at- tempt is usually made to explain or to rationalize this rejection on the basis of violation of fundamental principles and social values rather than for surface reasons.
3. EXTRAPUNITIVENESS
Another attitude, quite directly akin to prejudice, is that of extrapunitive- ness, to use Rosenzweig's term (I6), i. e. , a tendency to blame other people rather than oneself. As has been repeatedly pointed out in this volume, lack of insight into one's own shortcomings and the projection of one's own weak- nesses and faults onto others is often found in high-scoring subjects. It prob- ably represents the essential aspect of the mechanism of scapegoating.
An opposite variant to extrapunitiveness is impunitiveness, i. e. , the tend- ency to refrain from blaming altogether, be it others or oneself.
The differential distribution of this pair of opposites (Category 29a) with respect to overt ethnocentrism is quite significant for men (I per cent level)-26 positive and only 2 negative instances. For women there is a distinct trend in the same direction-I 8 positive as contrasted with 4 nega- tive instances-but it is not statistically significant.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
An "extrapunitive" attitude is manifested in the descriptions given by the following high-scoring women about t;heir co-workers, fellow students or teachers:
F6o: Subject just doesn't care for her fellow workers. "Some have all the PDQ's (degrees) but no common sense. " She wouldn't like to mention names, but she'd like to tell me what goes on. "Some just spend their time gossiping together. " She doesn't believe she should do more than just speak to her fellow workers. Very scornful of them, feels superior and aloof. They don't know her at all-no, indeed-implies she's a very special somebody and could reveal her gifts to them, but doesn't. She de- scribes how she treated masturbation. The others were afraid to stop the children. But she just "popped" the little boys' and girls' hands and said, "Now, don't do that. It isn't good for you. "
F71: Sister president of sorority in high school and of interclub council; thinks high school sororities "stupid and silly-dirty rushing, girls misplaced in clubs. Nothing as selfish and cruel as a little high school girl growing up. Noisy-no atten- tion to business-it was just too much. " Talks about high school teacher-thinks her aspiration level too high. "Too much screaming and yelling-has theateritis-pol- ished and professional-too many students broke down-you have to be stone to take it. "
Fn, although talking about her mother, reveals her general attitude toward people in the following quotation: "This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gone down.
