If I ever did anything wrong, it was the Latin in me, which is the side I have more of an
affinity
for-my mother's side.
Adorno-T-Authoritarian-Personality-Harper-Bros-1950
.
.
" Subject's father wanted him to be an architect, and talked about it all the time.
M z3 shows appreciation of the father because he gives everything to his children: (What things did you admire especially in your father? ) "Mostly, his attention to us kids was very admirable. He's very honest, so much so that he won't condone charge accounts. He's known throughout the country as a man whose word is as good as his bond. His greatest contribution was denying himself pleasure to take care of us kids. "
A blatant opportunism is revealed in the foregoing appraisal of parents on the part of prejudiced subjects, by the undisguised references to the food,
i l
j
? P ARENTS AND CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 3S5
money, and other goods they received. Most crudely, however, It IS ex- pressed by the subject who tells us she "switched to father. He holds the money bags now. "
An example of the affection-seeking attitude, from the record of a low- scoring subject follows:
F62: "We have all been very close. vVe were like one person. We liked the same things. W e were always doing things for each other. "
This record shows the intimacy and loving dependence of the family members on each other. Low-scoring men show a similar affection-oriented attitude. M44 describes his home background: "Pleasantness isn't a very good word. Simplicity and real affection. "
In the records of low-scoring men, there are quite often affectionate remarks about the mother: "On the whole we were quite fond of her," says M55 about his mother. As will be pointed out in Chapter XXI, some of the delinquent low-scoring men even commit crimes because of a mother fixa- tion. In one such case the motive was to rescue the mother who was in debt; in others the desire to receive love from a mother substitute had been frustrated.
The relatively pronounced emphasis on getting love, in low-scoring sub- jects, as compared with a more distinct orientation toward getting power and material benefits, in the high-scoring subjects, is a basic differentiation, the far-reaching consequences of which will be discussed later.
In spite of this difference, evident all through the interview material, it is noteworthy that orientation toward love and affection is less elaborately and pronouncedly expressed by our subjects than are opportunistic senti- ments of the sort just quoted. The cultural trends seem, to a certain degree, to discourage affection, or at least its overt expression.
The orientation toward "getting things" may be seen in relation to an atti- tude of "exchange. " When this general attitude predominates, human rela- tionships come to be regarded as one form of "making a deal. " In the attitude toward parents this is sometimes manifested in a vague feeling of obligation, of having to return in terms of material goods what one has received from the parents. The idea of having to "give" seems generally very painful to most of the high-scoring subjects, but at the same time theirs seems to be the conception, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours," if not "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. "
Such have been the considerations behind the introduction into the evalu- ation of the interviews of the aspect of sense of obligation and duty to parents (Category 4b). It is further defined as desire to "make it up to them. " Ac- cording to our expectation this attitude should be characteristic of the high scorers. However, the category did not prove discriminating in women, responses of this kind being generally few. In men, there were 5 high scorers
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
as compared with I low scorer in whom this response was found. Thus M47 feels he has to make recompense to his mother because he got a lot of things, including money, from her:
M47: (Main satisfactions with her? ) "Well, that's hard to say. I guess I haven't made her very happy, but . . . when I'm out there and going straight, I'll always take care of my mother. . . . I feel I've never treated her like I really should. "
The orientation of low-scoring men toward gaining affection primarily from i:he mother was mentioned above. High-scoring men, in contrast, seem more oriented toward the father. This orientation and the idea of making up to the father is illustrated in the following record:
M5z: "My father is very unemotional. He never says what he is thinking, anyway. (Did you miss him a lot when he was away? ) I missed him very much when I was at the boarding house. . . . I've saved all my letters to him. . . . He very dramatically returned all my letters, like to an old love. I loved my father very much. (Q) Yeah, I wished even before he died that I could get on my feet before he did die. When I was sick, I used to . . . daydream about his coming to see me. . . . (Q) I wanted to be more what he wanted me to be. . . . "
The idea that one has to "make it up" to the parents is illustrated directly by M6: "The depression had more influence on my life than on other people my age. My parents really had a bad time. I hope to make it up to them. My father was on relief at the same time I had to see the doctors. "
Some of the other records indicate that the prejudiced person considers that the surest way to find favor with his parents is to do something for them, in the sense of offering them material pleasures or support.
Starting from this discussion of family relationships, subsequent presenta- tion will show the very pronounced consistency, in the typical high-scoring subject, with respect to a materialistic, utilitarian view of interpersonal and social relationships. On the surface this may seem a kind of realism; actually it is pseudorealism, since it ultimately leads to an impoverishment and to hostilities in human relationships. The low scorer is of course by no means free of such trends although they are on the whole less pronounced in him.
7. INGROUP ORIENTATION TO THE FAMILY
As to the conception of the family as a whole, high-scoring subjects were expected to tend toward an ingroup orientation, as exemplified by emphasis on family heredity and background, a setting off of a homogeneous totali- tarian family against the rest of the world and a stressing of aristocratic superiority of the family. This is constrasted with thinking in terms of individuals within the family, expected in the low-scoring subjects. Seven high-scoring and only I low-scoring woman, and 6 as against 2 of the men interviewees display the presumedly "High" conception of the family.
Thus F68 is proud of the prestige the family of her father enjoyed: "We lived up in the mountains, County. His folks were pioneers-gold settlers and quite wealthy. Everyone knows the 's of County up that way. My
? P ARENTS AND CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 357
father was the spoiled darling of the family. My mother was a German girl, proud, hard working, thrifty. "
In a similar vein, F79 describes her family: "I am Pat _ _ (giving her family name). " She made it clear that she could find nothing about herself in which she could take pride except the fact that she belonged to the - - family.
A high-scoring man, M46, tells that his wife was brought up "by aristocratic parents with patriarchal setup. "
One of the prison inmates, M_p, says about his mother, "She came out in Capitol society, that's where she met my father. "
The same tendency to overemphasize the socioeconomic status of his family could be seen in the record of M4, where the mother's family status seems to be exag- geratedly described and an effort is made to conceal embarrassment about the status of the father's family: "Family on both sides have been here for several generations. Mother came from a quite well-to-do family; her grandfather was a millionaire, her father independently wealthy and never worked. There were 6 children, all devout Catholics. Grandmother was a very well trained artist; Mother herself went to high school, then married when she was about 18. Father came from a family less well-to-do. " Subject couldn't quite say this, but the grandfather ran a small grocery store in _ _ , sold out somewhere around _ _ , came to California, worked in the shipyards. "Father himself went to high school, afterwards went to a _ _ school, started his - - business, which he sold later on to work for a large corporation. "
A mixture of pride and embarrassment about family status is also seen in the de- scription of Mu: "My father's first father was named--? His second father was named - - , and he took that name. His father, - - , worked, or still works, as - - on the railroads. My mother's mother was _ _ from - - ? Her father was Spanish, born in this country. "
The high-scoring subjects show a tendency to magnify the status of their families in a way which enters and essentially modifies their entire concep- tion of their families. We find both an insecure concern about status and an ardent wish to transmit the impression that their families had repute and prestige.
In an attempt to summarize the attitudes toward parents thus far dis- cussed, the following may be said: The prejudiced subjects show little evi- dence of genuine love toward their parents. On the surface theirs is a stereotyped, rigid glorification of the parents, with strong resentment and feelings of victimization occasionally breaking through on the overt level in the interview material. Usually, however, only admiration for the parent is accepted by the subject. The underlying hostility has to be kept ego-alien for several reasons: it is too strong to be fully admitted; and it interferes with the desire to be taken care of by the parents. This conflict leads to a sub- mission to parental authority on the surface and a resentment underneath which, although not admitted, is the more active under the guise of mecha- nisms of displacement.
There is evidence, on the other hand, that the unprejudiced subjects re- ceived more love and therefore have basically more security in their rela- tionships to their parents. Disagreement with, and resentment against, the
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
parents are openly worked out, resulting in a much greater degree of inde- pendence from them. This independence is carried over into the subject's attitude toward social institutions and authorities in general. At the same time, there is more love-oriented dependenc;e on people, which prevents the individual from too much manipulation and exploitation of others. In spite of the conflicts these subjects carry with them, this type of relationship remains for them one of their important sources of gratification.
C. CONCEPTIONS OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
In this section discussion will center about the subject's conception of childhood events, including especially also the recollection and image of parental figures and their handling of discipline. The preceding section was concerned with the attitude toward the parents in general; now we proceed to describe the specific images of father and mother in the prejudiced and the unprejudiced. As stated in Chapter IX, it is difficult to say how much the image of a parent corresponds to reality and how much it is a subjective conception. However, this distinction may be of less importance when, as is the case here, personality structure rather than its genesis is the major concern. The notions our subjects have of their parents are psychologically relevant in the discussion of the parent-child relationship whether they are true or not. In a separate project, parents of prejudiced and unprejudiced children were actually studied, substantiating in kind many of the state- ments our present interviewees make about their own childhood (preliminary report by E. Frenkel-Brunswik, 30).
We will first consider the traits ascribed to the father by both the male and female interviewees. Since the categories under this heading in the Scor- ing Manual are rather specific, the total of responses in each category is not very large. Not all subjects described their parents spontaneously in such terms. The differences are, therefore, less significant here than elsewhere. The list of categories relating to the image of the parents is as follows:
INTERVIEW SCORING MANUAL: CONCEPTIONS OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT
(to Table z(X))
PRESUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTS PRESUMABLY "Low" VARIANTS
6M. Traits ascribed to father by Men:
a. Distant, stern, bad temper, "a barrier between us"
b. A moral-model
c. Pseudomasculine: Determi-
nation, worked his way up, a "success"
a. Some demonstrativeness
b. Principled puritanism c. Relaxed, mild
? P ARENTS A. . ~D CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 359 6W. Traits ascribed to father by Women:
a. Hardworkingprovider:"'Vill do anything for me" (ex- ternalized), works fingers to bone for family; or psy- chopath
c. Warm, sociable, lovable d. Understanding
e. Intellectual-aesthetic
b. A moral-model
7M. Traits ascribed to mother by Men:
a. Sacrificing, "kind," submis- sive
c. Warm, sociable, lovable d. Understanding
e. Intellectual-aesthetic
b. A moral-model
7W. Traits ascribed to mother by Women:
a. Restricting
b. A moral-model
c. "Sweet," pseudofeminine
8. Denial of parental conflict-ex- cept "mild-normal" disagree- ments
d. Some demonstrativeness e. Understanding
f. Intellectual-aesthetic
8. Objective verbalization of pa- rental conflict
9M. Power relationship, Man (Score a orb, not both):
a. Father was dominant, more influential
b. Henpeckingly dominant mother
a. Mother-centered (Love-nur- turance) home
b. Equalitarian home
9W. Power relationship, Women (Score a orb, not both):
a. "Perfect division of labor": Mother, home; father, work
b. Mother stronger, dominant IO. Discipline for violation of rules,
primarily moralistic
I I . Discipline threatening, trauma- tic, overwhelming (castration- threat)
a. Father more important, stronger
b. Equalitarian home
10. Discipline for violation of prin-
ciples, primarily rationalized I I. Discipline? assimilable (non-
egodestructive)
In keeping with the preliminary study of the interviews which always preceded the definition of categories, categories for men and women are not always symmetrical or analogous, and distinctions appearing as a pair of oppo- sites within one and the same subcategory in the case of one of the sexes, may be separated for the other.
Quantitative results are given in Table 2 (X) in the manner established in Section F of the preceding chapter, and in Table I (X).
2. IMAGE OF THE FATHER IN MEN: DISTANT AND STERN VS. RELAXED AND MILD
We begin with the conception, in men, of a distant, stern father, with bad temper, and a barrier between father and son, as opposed to the picture of a
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
warm, demonstrative father (Category 61\! la). Twelve high- and 5 low- scoring men interviewees conceive of their father as stern; 7 low- and only 1 high-scoring men refer to the father as demonstrative. The entire category
for men is statistically significant, but only at the 5 per cent level.
The "high" conception can best be understood from the actual statements
of high-scoring men.
Mst declares: "My father died five years ago-he was very-I've judged him with so much prejudice. I thought he was so strict . . . actually he was just the opposite . . . not the least demonstrative . . . he disapproved of any show of emotion of any kind.
If I ever did anything wrong, it was the Latin in me, which is the side I have more of an affinity for-my mother's side. I look more like them. "
The foregoing record shows the extent to which the subject felt the (true or imaginary) coldness and remoteness of his father. At the same time he does not dare really to criticize his father; he blames himself but-charac- teristically-without feeling guilty; "it is the Latin strain" in him which relieves him from any real responsibility.
The barrier between parents and children in the families of high-scoring subjects is indicated by the answer of a high-scoring man, M57, to the ques- tion, Did you confide in your parents? "No, never had any problem to talk about. " The barrier between father and son goes to the point of not talking to each other. The relationship seems to be barren of any affect. Rather than blame the parents, the subject denies the existence of any problems. After a few admiring sentences about his father, another subject says:
M 11: "Maybe-well, in ways he isn't even tempered. He's as stubborn as an ox. He'd rather start a fight or an argument than do something he doesn't want to. And he can fly off the handle. W e kid him out of it now. (What have you disagreed with your father about? ) I have gone days without talking to him or weeks without ask- ing any favors. . . . Well, we are lazy about such things; we are not mechanically minded, and we hate gardening. W e have some trouble because he's too stubborn to ask me for help but yet he gets mad because I won't. . . . Earlier he got mad because I wouldn't wear enough clothes. "
On the other hand, reference to friendliness on the part of the father is characteristic of the records of low-scoring men:
Mt6: (What was your father like? ) "He was a very kind man, gentle, was always very good to us, that is, as much as was possible under the circumstances. (Strict about some things? ) No, not very. He liked us kids a lot. (Q) I'm the youngest of five. "
M42 gives an affectionate description of his father. We get the impression of a relaxed person who has the ability to enjoy his life deeply.
Or Mso: "He champions my causes . . . told the other children that I had more sense in my little finger than all the other children put together. He was always in my corner . . . and of course he was fostering any latent art ability I had. . . . Curiously enough, I don't think I have any particular art ability. I think I could have become a good musician, pianist. . . . "
? P ARENTS AND CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 361
MS3: (Pleasant memories of father? ) "lots of pleasant memories, because he spoiled us when he was home, always cooking up wonderful ideas for things to do. " Msg: (How did you and your father get along? ) "Well, a very friendly relation- ship. He was pretty much of a pal. We liked to go places together, fishing, play
cards, etc. W e had a lot of good times. "
It is quite convincingly evident from the last three records that the fathers of these men possessed, as well as displayed, a good deal of affection for their sons. In general, the fathers of the unprejudiced men seem to have spent a great deal of time playing and "doing things" with their sons. It is interesting also to note the reference of M 50 to his father's interest in art. From all our evidence it seems likely that many of the fathers of our prejudiced men would have considered such an interest, in themselves or in their sons, as effeminate or "sissy. "
A further possibility is to see the father primarily as a moral-model. This may be contrasted with a view of the father as an example of what may be called principled puritanism (Category 6Mb). This pair of opposites is in- tended to characterize orientation toward, and acceptance of, a set of con- ventional values (externalized superego, i. e. , social anxiety) vs. an upholding of real ethical principles (internalized superego). As was expected, prejudiced men tend to describe the father as a moral-model, whereas the unprejudiced refer more often to the "puritanism" of their fathers. There is a high propor- tion of Neutral ratings so that the statistical significance of this difference has not been established; to be sure, there also is the difficulty in deciding, in each instance, whether we have a case of a moral model or of genuine conscien- tiousness before us.
A passage in the record of Mz3, a high scorer, reads as follows: "He drank but little, and he never smoked. He was very honest and strict in his dealings. He followed the church rules without going to church. " It shows the empha- sis on external virtue, such as abstinence from smoking, drinking, etc.
Another subject in this group, M41, says about his father: "He'd tell us what we should do, what he wanted us to do, and what he expected us to do. He always asked the blessings at the table and prayed at night before bedtime. "
The somewhat different quality that is manifested in the records of low- scoring men in their descriptions of the puritanism of their fathers is exem- plified as follows:
M s6: (What sort of person is your father? ) "Hard man to describe; he is a puritan really. His father is a drunkard, he reacted to that . . . very strict, but human. "
When there is moral strictness in the fathers of low-scoring men, it often tends to be characterized by a definite "human" touch, rather than by an emphasis on strict conformity to custom-the wish to be a shining example in the community-that appears in the fathers of high-scoring men.
? TABLE 2 (X)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON COJICEPT OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT
FOR 80 Sl. BJECTS SCORING EXTREMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE ETHNIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
Interview rating categories (abbreviated from Manual)
6M. conception of father in men: a. Distant, bad temper(H) vs.
Number o f "High"(H) and "Low"(L) Sex ratings received by
sums of instances ? positive? ? negative ?
. m 6 . 2. 2
15 5
. ?
Level of statistical significance
reached (percentage)
5
Men 12 1 some demonstrativeness(L) .
b. Moral-model(H) vs. principled puritanism(L)
c. Psuedomasculine(H) vs. relaxed, mild(L)
6W. Concept of father in women: . a. Hardworking provider; or
. . ? . 1 . ? . 1
Women . ?
psychopath(H) .
b. Moral-model(H) .
c. Warm, sociable, lovable (L) .
d. Understanding(L) 2
e. Intellectual-aesthetic(L)
7M. Concept of mother in men: a. Sacrificing, submissive(H)
b. Moral-model(H)
c. Warm, lovable (L)
d. Understanding (L)
e. Intellectual-aesthetic(L)
M. en 9
. .
1
J! ~ 0 I_Q_ 0
20 men and 25 women "high scorers?
20 men and 15 women "low scorers?
JL
L
H
5 1 4
1
L -
1.
4
2
4444 4554 I12
1
. . ? 1 1
2~2 2 . . . ? . 2
0
2 442
0
? 7W. concept of mother in women: a. Restricting(H)
b. Moral-model(H)
c. sweet, pseudofeminine(H)
d. Warm, demonstrative (L)
e. Understanding(L)
f. Intellectual-aesthetic(L)
8. Denial(H) vs. verbalization(L) of parental conflict
9Ma. b. Father-dominated(H) vs. mother-oriented(L) home; or henpecking mother (H) vs. equalitarian home(L)
9Wa. b. Division of labor(H) vs. father more important(L); or henpecking mother(H) vs. equalitarian home(L)
10. Discipline for: violation of rules(H) vs. violation of principles(L)
11. Discipline: Threatening, traumatic(H) vs. assimilable(L)
Women
Men 6 4 Women 8 5
Men
Women 7 4
Men 14 1 women i2 2
Men 13 0 Women ~ 3
3 5 4
? P ARENTS AND
CHILDHOOD
SEEN
THROUGH INTERVIEWS 363
II) . . .
~I
~~~~
II)N
. ,. . ,.
. . ,. . . ,.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
It is interesting to find that a further conception, that of a determined and successful father with an element of pseudomasculinity (Category 6Mc), does not differentiate much between high- and low-scoring men. Obviously, the successful man who worked his way up is so much a part of our culture that he may be found in any context of patterns. Nonetheless, reference to a father who is relaxed and mild is frequent in, and almost ? exclusive with, the interviews of low-scoring men; 9 of these, but only I of the high-scoring men, describe their fathers in these or related terms. Examples from the records of low-scoring men are the following:
M42, asked about his father, says: "I can't tell you exactly. I was only thirteen when he left. He's quick tempered . . . might say he is inclined to be a little slovenly . . . might go for a long time without a haircut or cleaning his nails. He is poody educated but he is very smart. His folks are farmers . . . they never had money . . . he would send them money. I knew he never liked his dad. "
This record presents the picture of a relaxed man who does not live up to the ideals and customs of his community, such as cleanliness and liking his father.
M z3 shows appreciation of the father because he gives everything to his children: (What things did you admire especially in your father? ) "Mostly, his attention to us kids was very admirable. He's very honest, so much so that he won't condone charge accounts. He's known throughout the country as a man whose word is as good as his bond. His greatest contribution was denying himself pleasure to take care of us kids. "
A blatant opportunism is revealed in the foregoing appraisal of parents on the part of prejudiced subjects, by the undisguised references to the food,
i l
j
? P ARENTS AND CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 3S5
money, and other goods they received. Most crudely, however, It IS ex- pressed by the subject who tells us she "switched to father. He holds the money bags now. "
An example of the affection-seeking attitude, from the record of a low- scoring subject follows:
F62: "We have all been very close. vVe were like one person. We liked the same things. W e were always doing things for each other. "
This record shows the intimacy and loving dependence of the family members on each other. Low-scoring men show a similar affection-oriented attitude. M44 describes his home background: "Pleasantness isn't a very good word. Simplicity and real affection. "
In the records of low-scoring men, there are quite often affectionate remarks about the mother: "On the whole we were quite fond of her," says M55 about his mother. As will be pointed out in Chapter XXI, some of the delinquent low-scoring men even commit crimes because of a mother fixa- tion. In one such case the motive was to rescue the mother who was in debt; in others the desire to receive love from a mother substitute had been frustrated.
The relatively pronounced emphasis on getting love, in low-scoring sub- jects, as compared with a more distinct orientation toward getting power and material benefits, in the high-scoring subjects, is a basic differentiation, the far-reaching consequences of which will be discussed later.
In spite of this difference, evident all through the interview material, it is noteworthy that orientation toward love and affection is less elaborately and pronouncedly expressed by our subjects than are opportunistic senti- ments of the sort just quoted. The cultural trends seem, to a certain degree, to discourage affection, or at least its overt expression.
The orientation toward "getting things" may be seen in relation to an atti- tude of "exchange. " When this general attitude predominates, human rela- tionships come to be regarded as one form of "making a deal. " In the attitude toward parents this is sometimes manifested in a vague feeling of obligation, of having to return in terms of material goods what one has received from the parents. The idea of having to "give" seems generally very painful to most of the high-scoring subjects, but at the same time theirs seems to be the conception, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours," if not "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. "
Such have been the considerations behind the introduction into the evalu- ation of the interviews of the aspect of sense of obligation and duty to parents (Category 4b). It is further defined as desire to "make it up to them. " Ac- cording to our expectation this attitude should be characteristic of the high scorers. However, the category did not prove discriminating in women, responses of this kind being generally few. In men, there were 5 high scorers
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
as compared with I low scorer in whom this response was found. Thus M47 feels he has to make recompense to his mother because he got a lot of things, including money, from her:
M47: (Main satisfactions with her? ) "Well, that's hard to say. I guess I haven't made her very happy, but . . . when I'm out there and going straight, I'll always take care of my mother. . . . I feel I've never treated her like I really should. "
The orientation of low-scoring men toward gaining affection primarily from i:he mother was mentioned above. High-scoring men, in contrast, seem more oriented toward the father. This orientation and the idea of making up to the father is illustrated in the following record:
M5z: "My father is very unemotional. He never says what he is thinking, anyway. (Did you miss him a lot when he was away? ) I missed him very much when I was at the boarding house. . . . I've saved all my letters to him. . . . He very dramatically returned all my letters, like to an old love. I loved my father very much. (Q) Yeah, I wished even before he died that I could get on my feet before he did die. When I was sick, I used to . . . daydream about his coming to see me. . . . (Q) I wanted to be more what he wanted me to be. . . . "
The idea that one has to "make it up" to the parents is illustrated directly by M6: "The depression had more influence on my life than on other people my age. My parents really had a bad time. I hope to make it up to them. My father was on relief at the same time I had to see the doctors. "
Some of the other records indicate that the prejudiced person considers that the surest way to find favor with his parents is to do something for them, in the sense of offering them material pleasures or support.
Starting from this discussion of family relationships, subsequent presenta- tion will show the very pronounced consistency, in the typical high-scoring subject, with respect to a materialistic, utilitarian view of interpersonal and social relationships. On the surface this may seem a kind of realism; actually it is pseudorealism, since it ultimately leads to an impoverishment and to hostilities in human relationships. The low scorer is of course by no means free of such trends although they are on the whole less pronounced in him.
7. INGROUP ORIENTATION TO THE FAMILY
As to the conception of the family as a whole, high-scoring subjects were expected to tend toward an ingroup orientation, as exemplified by emphasis on family heredity and background, a setting off of a homogeneous totali- tarian family against the rest of the world and a stressing of aristocratic superiority of the family. This is constrasted with thinking in terms of individuals within the family, expected in the low-scoring subjects. Seven high-scoring and only I low-scoring woman, and 6 as against 2 of the men interviewees display the presumedly "High" conception of the family.
Thus F68 is proud of the prestige the family of her father enjoyed: "We lived up in the mountains, County. His folks were pioneers-gold settlers and quite wealthy. Everyone knows the 's of County up that way. My
? P ARENTS AND CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 357
father was the spoiled darling of the family. My mother was a German girl, proud, hard working, thrifty. "
In a similar vein, F79 describes her family: "I am Pat _ _ (giving her family name). " She made it clear that she could find nothing about herself in which she could take pride except the fact that she belonged to the - - family.
A high-scoring man, M46, tells that his wife was brought up "by aristocratic parents with patriarchal setup. "
One of the prison inmates, M_p, says about his mother, "She came out in Capitol society, that's where she met my father. "
The same tendency to overemphasize the socioeconomic status of his family could be seen in the record of M4, where the mother's family status seems to be exag- geratedly described and an effort is made to conceal embarrassment about the status of the father's family: "Family on both sides have been here for several generations. Mother came from a quite well-to-do family; her grandfather was a millionaire, her father independently wealthy and never worked. There were 6 children, all devout Catholics. Grandmother was a very well trained artist; Mother herself went to high school, then married when she was about 18. Father came from a family less well-to-do. " Subject couldn't quite say this, but the grandfather ran a small grocery store in _ _ , sold out somewhere around _ _ , came to California, worked in the shipyards. "Father himself went to high school, afterwards went to a _ _ school, started his - - business, which he sold later on to work for a large corporation. "
A mixture of pride and embarrassment about family status is also seen in the de- scription of Mu: "My father's first father was named--? His second father was named - - , and he took that name. His father, - - , worked, or still works, as - - on the railroads. My mother's mother was _ _ from - - ? Her father was Spanish, born in this country. "
The high-scoring subjects show a tendency to magnify the status of their families in a way which enters and essentially modifies their entire concep- tion of their families. We find both an insecure concern about status and an ardent wish to transmit the impression that their families had repute and prestige.
In an attempt to summarize the attitudes toward parents thus far dis- cussed, the following may be said: The prejudiced subjects show little evi- dence of genuine love toward their parents. On the surface theirs is a stereotyped, rigid glorification of the parents, with strong resentment and feelings of victimization occasionally breaking through on the overt level in the interview material. Usually, however, only admiration for the parent is accepted by the subject. The underlying hostility has to be kept ego-alien for several reasons: it is too strong to be fully admitted; and it interferes with the desire to be taken care of by the parents. This conflict leads to a sub- mission to parental authority on the surface and a resentment underneath which, although not admitted, is the more active under the guise of mecha- nisms of displacement.
There is evidence, on the other hand, that the unprejudiced subjects re- ceived more love and therefore have basically more security in their rela- tionships to their parents. Disagreement with, and resentment against, the
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
parents are openly worked out, resulting in a much greater degree of inde- pendence from them. This independence is carried over into the subject's attitude toward social institutions and authorities in general. At the same time, there is more love-oriented dependenc;e on people, which prevents the individual from too much manipulation and exploitation of others. In spite of the conflicts these subjects carry with them, this type of relationship remains for them one of their important sources of gratification.
C. CONCEPTIONS OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
In this section discussion will center about the subject's conception of childhood events, including especially also the recollection and image of parental figures and their handling of discipline. The preceding section was concerned with the attitude toward the parents in general; now we proceed to describe the specific images of father and mother in the prejudiced and the unprejudiced. As stated in Chapter IX, it is difficult to say how much the image of a parent corresponds to reality and how much it is a subjective conception. However, this distinction may be of less importance when, as is the case here, personality structure rather than its genesis is the major concern. The notions our subjects have of their parents are psychologically relevant in the discussion of the parent-child relationship whether they are true or not. In a separate project, parents of prejudiced and unprejudiced children were actually studied, substantiating in kind many of the state- ments our present interviewees make about their own childhood (preliminary report by E. Frenkel-Brunswik, 30).
We will first consider the traits ascribed to the father by both the male and female interviewees. Since the categories under this heading in the Scor- ing Manual are rather specific, the total of responses in each category is not very large. Not all subjects described their parents spontaneously in such terms. The differences are, therefore, less significant here than elsewhere. The list of categories relating to the image of the parents is as follows:
INTERVIEW SCORING MANUAL: CONCEPTIONS OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT
(to Table z(X))
PRESUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTS PRESUMABLY "Low" VARIANTS
6M. Traits ascribed to father by Men:
a. Distant, stern, bad temper, "a barrier between us"
b. A moral-model
c. Pseudomasculine: Determi-
nation, worked his way up, a "success"
a. Some demonstrativeness
b. Principled puritanism c. Relaxed, mild
? P ARENTS A. . ~D CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 359 6W. Traits ascribed to father by Women:
a. Hardworkingprovider:"'Vill do anything for me" (ex- ternalized), works fingers to bone for family; or psy- chopath
c. Warm, sociable, lovable d. Understanding
e. Intellectual-aesthetic
b. A moral-model
7M. Traits ascribed to mother by Men:
a. Sacrificing, "kind," submis- sive
c. Warm, sociable, lovable d. Understanding
e. Intellectual-aesthetic
b. A moral-model
7W. Traits ascribed to mother by Women:
a. Restricting
b. A moral-model
c. "Sweet," pseudofeminine
8. Denial of parental conflict-ex- cept "mild-normal" disagree- ments
d. Some demonstrativeness e. Understanding
f. Intellectual-aesthetic
8. Objective verbalization of pa- rental conflict
9M. Power relationship, Man (Score a orb, not both):
a. Father was dominant, more influential
b. Henpeckingly dominant mother
a. Mother-centered (Love-nur- turance) home
b. Equalitarian home
9W. Power relationship, Women (Score a orb, not both):
a. "Perfect division of labor": Mother, home; father, work
b. Mother stronger, dominant IO. Discipline for violation of rules,
primarily moralistic
I I . Discipline threatening, trauma- tic, overwhelming (castration- threat)
a. Father more important, stronger
b. Equalitarian home
10. Discipline for violation of prin-
ciples, primarily rationalized I I. Discipline? assimilable (non-
egodestructive)
In keeping with the preliminary study of the interviews which always preceded the definition of categories, categories for men and women are not always symmetrical or analogous, and distinctions appearing as a pair of oppo- sites within one and the same subcategory in the case of one of the sexes, may be separated for the other.
Quantitative results are given in Table 2 (X) in the manner established in Section F of the preceding chapter, and in Table I (X).
2. IMAGE OF THE FATHER IN MEN: DISTANT AND STERN VS. RELAXED AND MILD
We begin with the conception, in men, of a distant, stern father, with bad temper, and a barrier between father and son, as opposed to the picture of a
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
warm, demonstrative father (Category 61\! la). Twelve high- and 5 low- scoring men interviewees conceive of their father as stern; 7 low- and only 1 high-scoring men refer to the father as demonstrative. The entire category
for men is statistically significant, but only at the 5 per cent level.
The "high" conception can best be understood from the actual statements
of high-scoring men.
Mst declares: "My father died five years ago-he was very-I've judged him with so much prejudice. I thought he was so strict . . . actually he was just the opposite . . . not the least demonstrative . . . he disapproved of any show of emotion of any kind.
If I ever did anything wrong, it was the Latin in me, which is the side I have more of an affinity for-my mother's side. I look more like them. "
The foregoing record shows the extent to which the subject felt the (true or imaginary) coldness and remoteness of his father. At the same time he does not dare really to criticize his father; he blames himself but-charac- teristically-without feeling guilty; "it is the Latin strain" in him which relieves him from any real responsibility.
The barrier between parents and children in the families of high-scoring subjects is indicated by the answer of a high-scoring man, M57, to the ques- tion, Did you confide in your parents? "No, never had any problem to talk about. " The barrier between father and son goes to the point of not talking to each other. The relationship seems to be barren of any affect. Rather than blame the parents, the subject denies the existence of any problems. After a few admiring sentences about his father, another subject says:
M 11: "Maybe-well, in ways he isn't even tempered. He's as stubborn as an ox. He'd rather start a fight or an argument than do something he doesn't want to. And he can fly off the handle. W e kid him out of it now. (What have you disagreed with your father about? ) I have gone days without talking to him or weeks without ask- ing any favors. . . . Well, we are lazy about such things; we are not mechanically minded, and we hate gardening. W e have some trouble because he's too stubborn to ask me for help but yet he gets mad because I won't. . . . Earlier he got mad because I wouldn't wear enough clothes. "
On the other hand, reference to friendliness on the part of the father is characteristic of the records of low-scoring men:
Mt6: (What was your father like? ) "He was a very kind man, gentle, was always very good to us, that is, as much as was possible under the circumstances. (Strict about some things? ) No, not very. He liked us kids a lot. (Q) I'm the youngest of five. "
M42 gives an affectionate description of his father. We get the impression of a relaxed person who has the ability to enjoy his life deeply.
Or Mso: "He champions my causes . . . told the other children that I had more sense in my little finger than all the other children put together. He was always in my corner . . . and of course he was fostering any latent art ability I had. . . . Curiously enough, I don't think I have any particular art ability. I think I could have become a good musician, pianist. . . . "
? P ARENTS AND CHILDHOOD SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 361
MS3: (Pleasant memories of father? ) "lots of pleasant memories, because he spoiled us when he was home, always cooking up wonderful ideas for things to do. " Msg: (How did you and your father get along? ) "Well, a very friendly relation- ship. He was pretty much of a pal. We liked to go places together, fishing, play
cards, etc. W e had a lot of good times. "
It is quite convincingly evident from the last three records that the fathers of these men possessed, as well as displayed, a good deal of affection for their sons. In general, the fathers of the unprejudiced men seem to have spent a great deal of time playing and "doing things" with their sons. It is interesting also to note the reference of M 50 to his father's interest in art. From all our evidence it seems likely that many of the fathers of our prejudiced men would have considered such an interest, in themselves or in their sons, as effeminate or "sissy. "
A further possibility is to see the father primarily as a moral-model. This may be contrasted with a view of the father as an example of what may be called principled puritanism (Category 6Mb). This pair of opposites is in- tended to characterize orientation toward, and acceptance of, a set of con- ventional values (externalized superego, i. e. , social anxiety) vs. an upholding of real ethical principles (internalized superego). As was expected, prejudiced men tend to describe the father as a moral-model, whereas the unprejudiced refer more often to the "puritanism" of their fathers. There is a high propor- tion of Neutral ratings so that the statistical significance of this difference has not been established; to be sure, there also is the difficulty in deciding, in each instance, whether we have a case of a moral model or of genuine conscien- tiousness before us.
A passage in the record of Mz3, a high scorer, reads as follows: "He drank but little, and he never smoked. He was very honest and strict in his dealings. He followed the church rules without going to church. " It shows the empha- sis on external virtue, such as abstinence from smoking, drinking, etc.
Another subject in this group, M41, says about his father: "He'd tell us what we should do, what he wanted us to do, and what he expected us to do. He always asked the blessings at the table and prayed at night before bedtime. "
The somewhat different quality that is manifested in the records of low- scoring men in their descriptions of the puritanism of their fathers is exem- plified as follows:
M s6: (What sort of person is your father? ) "Hard man to describe; he is a puritan really. His father is a drunkard, he reacted to that . . . very strict, but human. "
When there is moral strictness in the fathers of low-scoring men, it often tends to be characterized by a definite "human" touch, rather than by an emphasis on strict conformity to custom-the wish to be a shining example in the community-that appears in the fathers of high-scoring men.
? TABLE 2 (X)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON COJICEPT OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT
FOR 80 Sl. BJECTS SCORING EXTREMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE ETHNIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
Interview rating categories (abbreviated from Manual)
6M. conception of father in men: a. Distant, bad temper(H) vs.
Number o f "High"(H) and "Low"(L) Sex ratings received by
sums of instances ? positive? ? negative ?
. m 6 . 2. 2
15 5
. ?
Level of statistical significance
reached (percentage)
5
Men 12 1 some demonstrativeness(L) .
b. Moral-model(H) vs. principled puritanism(L)
c. Psuedomasculine(H) vs. relaxed, mild(L)
6W. Concept of father in women: . a. Hardworking provider; or
. . ? . 1 . ? . 1
Women . ?
psychopath(H) .
b. Moral-model(H) .
c. Warm, sociable, lovable (L) .
d. Understanding(L) 2
e. Intellectual-aesthetic(L)
7M. Concept of mother in men: a. Sacrificing, submissive(H)
b. Moral-model(H)
c. Warm, lovable (L)
d. Understanding (L)
e. Intellectual-aesthetic(L)
M. en 9
. .
1
J! ~ 0 I_Q_ 0
20 men and 25 women "high scorers?
20 men and 15 women "low scorers?
JL
L
H
5 1 4
1
L -
1.
4
2
4444 4554 I12
1
. . ? 1 1
2~2 2 . . . ? . 2
0
2 442
0
? 7W. concept of mother in women: a. Restricting(H)
b. Moral-model(H)
c. sweet, pseudofeminine(H)
d. Warm, demonstrative (L)
e. Understanding(L)
f. Intellectual-aesthetic(L)
8. Denial(H) vs. verbalization(L) of parental conflict
9Ma. b. Father-dominated(H) vs. mother-oriented(L) home; or henpecking mother (H) vs. equalitarian home(L)
9Wa. b. Division of labor(H) vs. father more important(L); or henpecking mother(H) vs. equalitarian home(L)
10. Discipline for: violation of rules(H) vs. violation of principles(L)
11. Discipline: Threatening, traumatic(H) vs. assimilable(L)
Women
Men 6 4 Women 8 5
Men
Women 7 4
Men 14 1 women i2 2
Men 13 0 Women ~ 3
3 5 4
? P ARENTS AND
CHILDHOOD
SEEN
THROUGH INTERVIEWS 363
II) . . .
~I
~~~~
II)N
. ,. . ,.
. . ,. . . ,.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
It is interesting to find that a further conception, that of a determined and successful father with an element of pseudomasculinity (Category 6Mc), does not differentiate much between high- and low-scoring men. Obviously, the successful man who worked his way up is so much a part of our culture that he may be found in any context of patterns. Nonetheless, reference to a father who is relaxed and mild is frequent in, and almost ? exclusive with, the interviews of low-scoring men; 9 of these, but only I of the high-scoring men, describe their fathers in these or related terms. Examples from the records of low-scoring men are the following:
M42, asked about his father, says: "I can't tell you exactly. I was only thirteen when he left. He's quick tempered . . . might say he is inclined to be a little slovenly . . . might go for a long time without a haircut or cleaning his nails. He is poody educated but he is very smart. His folks are farmers . . . they never had money . . . he would send them money. I knew he never liked his dad. "
This record presents the picture of a relaxed man who does not live up to the ideals and customs of his community, such as cleanliness and liking his father.
