In a word, the high scorers' crimes express the
emotional
complex that seems to dominate their lives: desperate fear of their own "weakness," which they try to deny by a fa~ade of masculinity.
Adorno-T-Authoritarian-Personality-Harper-Bros-1950
And a musician-pianist- .
.
.
not by trade but certainly by nature.
" Her frailties include "a psychological disturbance as great as mine.
Fortunately didn't cause her as much trouble, but certainly caused her as much anguish.
" The mother's emotional support
? CRIMINALITY AND ANTIDEMOCRA TIC TRENDS ss5
seemed to help Art assert considerable independence of his father: e. g. , ex- plicitly rejecting the latter's anti-Semitism; evaluating him with some critical- ness as "spoiled" by his "rich parents" as "an only child"; criticizing his disci- pline as having "not much consistency"; and rejecting his father's discipline when it seemed unfair, in which case "you got nothing but a lot of argument from me. " The mother was in some ways a better model: her discipline "de- prived us of privileges" but "had more effect" because of her greater consist- ency-"she meant what she said. " The father's capriciousness, as a masculine model to identify with, seemed to confuse Art's conception of his own ego- identity. For instance, in pursuing the career of artist? and having to compro- mise by becoming a commercial artist, Art was following his father, who "of course was fostering any particular art ability I had. " But "curiously enough, I don't think I have any particular art ability" though "no one else thinks it is either ordinary or mediocre. " Instead, "I think I could become a good musi- cian, pianist" (like his mother); although he admits on questioning that "I don't play the piano at all. " Art even makes explicit his conflict over in- ternalizing the father as a masculine model: though the father "championed my causes. ? ? . I didn't like my father as champion-preferred my mother as champion. " Art recognizes that his father was "temperamental," "running away from something, too . . . managed to dissipate a rather large fortune" by drinking and gambling which caused "considerable domestic strife: I didn't like it. " Yet having himself "started drinking," done some gambling, chafed against "commercializing" his artistic bent by getting fired from sev- eral jobs, and "transferred my dependency" onto prison by check-writing -Art senses that he has "probably got some of (my father's) extravagant qualities. "
Don's life, too, has been dominated by a neurotic overattachment to his mother. His underlying love-dependency has been masked, however, by his reciprocal role of nurturant protector to his mother. In pre-adolescence he became actively involved in the "bitter quarrels" between his parents con- cerning the father's "going with women. " He took the mother's side, strongly criticizing the father, who repeatedly "licked my pants off" for intervening. "At the same time, I tried to bring them back together; they still care for each other. " But his efforts at mediation were unsuccessful: his parents were divorced when he was 12, and from then on Don supported himself, living with several other boys. (One wonders if Don's experience of being squeezed between his two adult giants partly determines his opinion that "both labor and business sort of ignore the little fellow. ") Years later, in the mother's third marriage, her husband "took her" for a great deal of money, which he lost in a succession of wildcat schemes. Eventually she went into debt, mortgaging the old family farm. Don, having tried in vain to persuade her to divorce the man, and inhibiting conscious wishes to kill him, borrowed heavily to keep her in funds. He then carried out a series of
? 886 THE AUTHORIT ARIAN PERSONALITY
bank robberies (by himself) to make these debts good, and to continue supplying money to his mother. On the last one, after a wild automo- bile and foot chase by a bank manager, he let himself be caught rather than shoot the unarmed man with his loaded gun. Don recognizes that his mother is "governed by emotional biases," by "willingness to accept and believe too much . . . generous to a fault . . . not too practical, forbearing to a fault ? ? ? not assertive enough. " But he respects her deeply as "quite a per- son" who "has taken up something every year of her life. . . . She has recently learned to play the accordion; she studied music all her life. " Dan's ego- identity, like Art's, seems to be confused with respect to mother-versus father-identifications: he feels that he takes after his father in not being "governed by emotional biases as Mother is. " This conflicts sharply with his statement that prison is "the first time that I haven't been beset by all sorts of emotional problems. " Ambivalence toward his mother's "emotional biases" is indicated by his first, abrupt response to questioning about his mother's weaknesses: "Let's call it emotional and let it go at that. "
Jim's involvement with his mother is still deeper, with respect to both love-dependency feelings and nurturant protection of her, as well as strong hostility close to the surface. Conflict with the father is also more violent. Jim has been very close to his mother, as to an intimate sweetheart: "I could talk to my mother about any subject under the sun. No embarrassment there. I was interested in the same things. . . . Both of us are a little sensitive in temperament, kind of quiet. I think we both like a certain amount of solitude. I used to like to take her out to dinner, to the theatre quite often. " During the depression, as he struggled against poverty to support his mother, she says that he was "a prince, and went without eating himself to buy fruit for me. " Jim is able to criticize her as "not social enough . . . by herself too much" and as "having a little temper," but he formulates his near-conscious ambivalence: "It's a little difficult to find weaknesses in one's mother. . . . We usually tend to overlook a mother's weaknesses. . . . I find it difficult to find very many frailties. " At another point Jim indicates unmistakably the process of con- sciously struggling to inhibit, by what he calls "insight," resentments toward his mother. Citing, in response to questioning, an occasion on which she had spanked him impulsively for something that wasn't his fault, he declares: "At the time I resented it. Today I don't. I know she did things the best she could. . . . I didn't have enough insight then. " Of the father, who deserted the family for eight years during the 'thirties, Jim says: "My dad used to get drunk quite often, and he would beat (my mother) physically. . . . He's a little crude, so- cially. He's very happy-go-lucky. He likes to fish. He's very egotistical, I think a little too much so. Very stubborn in argument. If he believes a thing, why that's it. He probably has an inferiority complex which he never admits to himself. " The mother expresses the view that Jim was reduced to "a hope- less state of mind . . . due to his father's hardness and cruelty. " But note
? ness. )
CRIMINALITY AND ANTIDEMOCRA TIC TRENDS
Jim's love-oriented wish to believe that his relation to his father was none- theless "a very friendly relationship. 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. " (Recall Jim's close relationship with an older man whom he persuaded to stop drinking, and who was in turn kind to him. )
Dick, too, was closer to his mother than to his father. "I always like to putter around the house with Mother. Mother and I were pals more than Father. . ? ? I confided in Mother a good deal. (What's an example? ) Well, sex. Mother was much more free about it than Father. " Nonetheless, Dick's conception of her is more "moral" and conventional than that of the other low-scoring interviewees, and reflects some dependence-for-things: He de- scribes her as a "good housekeeper, always interested in the kids' welfare. Liked to putter around the house. " He admired most in her "the fact that she's always looked after the kids the best she could, and kept a very nice
household and dresses nice. Personal appearance always kept up to snuff. Doesn't smoke and doesn't drink. " Dick is also unable to criticize her di- rectly: (Weaknesses? ) "Well, might say my dad is her principal weakness. He can talk her out of most anything. . . . (Other weaknesses? ) By golly, I don't know. I can't think of a one. " His hostility toward her for her greater strictness, as compared with the father, is not difficult to infer: "Dad tried to" exercise the discipline, "but he was too easy-going, so Mother did. . . . Never had a whipping. She used to take privileges away . . . for not coming home on time. That was the main thing. . ? . I got a wild streak for about six months before I went into the service. First got the use of a car then. Neglected my studies for picnics and dates in the evenings. " (One may wonder if this was not in protest against his mother's moral strictness). As for the father, who "always found something to laugh at-very easy to get along with," Dick mentions his main weaknesses as violations of the mother's strictness: "Might say he's a sucker for anybody's sob story," and "pretty lenient with his kids . . . would let us play hookey, would let me have the car a bit too often; too easy with money for us kids," whereas the mother was a"little more careful about money. " (Recall that Dick's fiancee, the crippled girl "back home," is "not wild-steady"; she might be a mother figure who could help him to inhibit resentment against his mother's strict-
I. "CRIMINALITY" IN HIGH AND LOW SCORERS
1. GENERAL
What relations may exist between "criminality" and the antidemocratic trends? Two kinds of data ? are available: mean scores on the scales for sub- groups composed of legally defined offense categories, and certain interview material. Table 5 (XXI) presents the E- and F-scale means for the legally
? 888
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY TABLE 5 (XXI)
MEAN E- AND F-SCALE SCORES OF THE PRISON INMATES, GROUPED ACCORDING TO OFFENSE
Offense Group
Number E Scale F Scale
of Cases Mean/Person/Item Mean/Person/Item
Check-writing 44 4. 45 4. 76 Robbery, burglary, theft 31 4. 63 4. 39 Murder 12 4. 31 4. 33 Sex offenses 23 5. 02 5. 33
110 4. 61 4. 73
defined offense categories-murderers, robbers, etc. None of the differences between means of different offense groups are statistically significant. As for the relevant interview material, the heterogeneity of offenses combined with the small number of cases would seem to discourage general conclusions. But perhaps if an appropriate level of generalization can be found, a brief re- view of this material might be rewarded with further insight. Such a review
is now presented, considering the interviewees one by one.
2. HIGH SCORERS (INCLUDING FASCISTS)
Complete details are not available as to the exact circumstances of each of the interviewees' offenses and their attitudes toward these offenses. None- theless the material obtained is highly suggestive.
Robert's murder of his hostile, despised mistress was the climax of a flight into sexual promiscuity which has been interpreted as an unconscious at- tempt to quiet fears of nonmasculinity that his wife's frigidity may have intensified. Ronald's habitual gang robbery "as a business" appears to have represented an easy way of obtaining money as well as an effort to "pro,ve" himself a "big operator. " Eugene's delinquencies consist of a long history of "trouble": getting easy money by check-writing, gambling, drinking, and especially fighting, of which he is both proud because of its manliness and ashamed because of being "a little wild. " In contrast with his submissiveness to his moralistic mother, by being "good, up to the time I was 17 years old," this behavior sounds like a belated protest of "masculinity. " Wilbur's mur- der of his landlord following eviction, and his development of paranoid anti-Greek delusions, appears to have been a desperate defiance of an emas- culating father figure, in order to reassert his own threatened masculinity. Clarence's sexual assaults on children, with his accompanying paranoid de- lusions of being "framed by the people in politics," seem to be attempts to
? ' CRIMINALITY AND ANTIDEMOCRA TIC TRENDS
"prove" masculinity and suppress homosexual panic. Buck's statutory rape of a young girl and molesting of his own small children probably have simi- lar meanings. His drunken check-writing spree with a despised prostitute seems to have been an attempt to bolster his masculinity by means of hetero- sexual promiscuity and "big-shot financier" behavior. Floyd's gang rob- beries were undisguised attempts to be a "big operator," to be "tough," and to gain easy power. Similarly for his disturbing the peace by drunken brawls, and his repeated Army A. W. O. L. 's, which characteristically involved a spree with "a married woman as usual. " Adrian's cap-pistol robbery was, by his own statement, an attempt to "prove" that he could "lead. " He himself attributes this act in part to some glandular treatments he had just completed a week before, which he feels made him "more masculine. "
The one feature which all of these offenses have in common is that they represent attempts to "prove" something. What they seek to "prove" is toughness, strength, power, all of which signify "masculinity. " More sig- nificantly, they are attempts to deny something, namely, what to the sub- ject means psychologically "weakness" and "nonmasculinity"-whether this be nonheterosexuality, impotence, homosexual impulses, submissiveness, de- pendence, softness, or passivity.
In a word, the high scorers' crimes express the emotional complex that seems to dominate their lives: desperate fear of their own "weakness," which they try to deny by a fa~ade of masculinity. Thus what superficially looks like direct, uninhibited expression of im- pulses in these men, turns out to be a cover-up for intense inhibition and fear.
3. LOW SCORERS
Art has himself interpreted his check-writing, in which he made no efforts to avoid getting caught, as an unconscious attempt to transfer his ambivalent dependency from his wife onto the prison "mother. " He ascribes the origin of this complex to his attachment to his mother. Don's bank robberies for his mother express a similar mother attachment, in which his own love- dependence is closely associated with nurturance toward his mother. Near- conscious ambivalence is verbalized toward the emotional biases by which her behavior is governed. Jim's clubbing of a middle-aged woman and then kissing and chewing her breasts-all carried out while drunk and in a dazed, fugue-like state, with later partial amnesia-suggests a direct expres- sion of primitive mother-oriented ambivalence. His earlier theft of an auto for a joy ride with an older woman may well have been related to the same general conflicts. Dick's theft of an auto to drive a woman to Reno to marry, while both were drunk, seems to have been part of his near-con-. scious search for consolation, after the frustration of his love-dependent- nurturant desire to marry the crippled girl "back home. "
Each of these men's offenses suggests different aspects of a common con- ? stellation which dominates their lives: longing to be loved by and to love ?
? THE AUTHORIT ARIAN PERSONALITY
a mother figure who will both "mother" them and let them "father" her- with near-conscious ambivalence to women, caused by frustration of this striving.
The crimes of the high and low scorers thus seem to express their different central strivings or life-themes: antiweakness defenses versus ambivalent quest-for-love. They do not appear to be differentiated, with respect to the manifest violence of their offenses. It seems that the same legal offense, ~nd the same degree of violence, may spring from quite different underlying per-
sonality structures; accordingly, as other writers have noted (5 r, 103 ), the legal offense per se is a poor index of susceptibility to rehabilitation. There is a strong suggestion, however, that low scorers offer considerably more prom- ise of rehabilitation than do high scorers. This follows from the apparent greater capacity of the former to establish genuine relationships with other people; just as their criminal behavior seems to have followed upon frustra- tion of the need for love, or upon some crisis in their love relationships, so would the establishment of new relationships offer the basis for changed be- havior. In the high scorers, on the other hand, relationships based primarily upon love would seem to be very difficult of achievement; rather, we should expect new relationships in their case to conform with the old pattern of dominance-submission, something which, though it might induce conform- ing behavior for the moment, would in the end only strengthen those per-
sonality structures which are basic to their criminality-and to <-heir fascist potential.
? CHAPTER XXII
PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEAL TH IN RE- LA TION TO POTENTIAL FASCISM: A STUDY OF PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC PATIENTS1 Maria Hertz Levinson
A. INTRODUCTION
If differences in ideology are significantly related to personality differences, then one would expect ideology to be related also to various kinds of mental disturbance. It is the contention of modern psychiatry that the experiences and behavior of mentally disturbed persons differ only in degree from those of normal people, and that the disturbances which any given individual de- velops depend in very large part on his personality structure. Indeed, most of the concepts of modern psychology of personality were first developed on the basis of material from psychologically unhealthy people. The reasons for this were similar to the reasons, given below, which prompted the present study of ideology and personality in psychiatric patients.
In the first place, it is usually easier to describe and to explain the more pathological personality patterns than the more "healthy" ones. "Healthy" people, to be sure, also have problems, i. e. , areas in which their adjustment to outer and inner stresses is not entirely smooth. They have, however, to a large extent "solved" these problems. They have succeeded in sublimat- ing or successfully controlling their primitive impulses and, to the extent that inner problems still exist, they are able to achieve life situations which help to minimize their conflicts and anxieties. Those who need therapy, have, on the other hand, whether they are aware of the need or not, failed to achieve the proper balance, and the nature and degree of their imbalance is usually plain to be seen. The primitive impulses break through in more or less undisguised forms, the defensive struggles against them can often be
1 The writer wishes to thank Dr. Karl Bowman, head of the Langley Porter Clinic, for making the Clinic facilities available. She also is indebted to Dr. Robert E. Harris, Chief Psychologist, for his generous support and numerous helpful suggestions, and to various members of the Clinic staff for their aid and cooperation.
891
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
clearly observed, and the conflicts with the environment are often still in progress. Thus, the ". elements" and adjustment mechanisms of the personality are here more clearly discernible than in psychologically healthy individuals.
In the second place, an advantage in using the psychiatric clinic as a labora- tory lies in the fact that here, more than in the usual research interview, peo- ple are willing to disclose the more intimate details of their lives. Thus, studies on patients who are strongly motivated to tell the truth about them- selves may help to validate the methods used for the study of other groups.
Thirdly, the present investigation sought an approach to the very dif- ficult problem of the relation between ideology and the dimension of psy- chological health-ill health. Are people with psychological disturbances- severe enough to make them seek psychiatric help-more prejudiced or less prejudiced than other groups of people? What is the general relation between neurosis and psychosis, on the one hand, and ideology on the other? Are par- ticular patterns of ideology significantly related to any of the common psychiatric diagnostic groups?
In an attempt to answer these and other questions, I 2 I psychiatric pa- tients were studied by means of our questionnaire and other methods. Data bearing on such factors as intelligence level, education, type of complaint, and psychiatric diagnosis were obtained from the Clinic records. In addition, 16 cases were studied intensively by means of interviews and the Thematic Apperception Test, and all material previously collected by the Clinic workers was brought into the picture. A majority of the subjects also took a standard- ized test known as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. In analyzing and interpreting these data, concepts and findings from the other areas of the study as a whole were employed to the full.
B. THE NA TURE OF THE SAMPLE
The subjects, 7I women and 50 men, were all patients at the Langley Porter Clinic in San Francisco, a state institution for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Violent cases and cases for permanent commitment are not admitted. At the time of the study reported in the present chapter, the inpatient department had three wards (about 45 beds) for patients requiring temporary hospitalization. Most of these cases can be classed as severe neu- roses or mild psychoses. The majority of the patients are treated in the out. . patient department, where adults are seen regularly for therapeutic inter- views and various psychological procedures.
The hospital facilities are open to everyone, regardless of income. FeeS range from $o (gratis) to $2 per interview and are graded according to ability to pay. In terms of income, occupation, and residence, most Clinic patients could be said to fall into the urban lower middle class, though in some caseS the lower class or the educated middle class are represented. Most upper-
? PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEALTH AND POTENTIAL FASCISM 893
class and upper middle-class individuals who wish psychiatric help go to private psychiatrists.
One may ask to what extent patients, of whatever social class, who seek help from a public psychiatric clinic are different from those people with psychological disturbances who do not seek such help. One important trait distinguishing the two groups is acceptance of psychiatry and of the idea that one's illness might have important psychological sources. This is true particularly of many persons who come to the Clinic of their own accord or at the instigation of relatives or friends. Almost as large a proportion of the patients, however, are referred by social agencies or by physicians to whom they have usually turned because of physical symptoms. Most of these peo- ple have little or no idea about psychiatry and many drop out of treatment after a few interviews have shown them that their "mind" is involved.
Another selective sampling factor is the admission policy of the hospital. The outpatient clinic arranges at least one interview for every person apply- ing, except in cases which should properly be handled by other agencies. The outpatients are selected therefore only on the basis of their wishing psychiatric help from a clinic. The inpatient department, on the other hand, is so small that only a limited portion of applications can be considered. The only cases admitted are those requiring immediate attention, those present- ing special diagnostic problems, and those which could best profit from temporary hospitalization. The judgment regarding prognosis rests, of course, on age and the nature of the disturbance, but also to a large extent on such factors as the patient's cooperativeness, desire to be helped, degree of insight, intelligence, and education. The staff's judgment as to whether the patient is a particularly worthwhile person also plays a role. This latter judgment rests in part on the personal impression the patient makes, that is, on his conformity with middle-class or upper middle-class standards of dress, occupational and educational level, and speech, manners, and so forth. The Langley Porter patients are referred from a great variety of sources: many kinds of agencies, army, navy, physicians, private individuals. About 20 per cent of the ap- plicants are self-referred; this group contains many college graduates and other younger people who feel that they can be helped in making better life choices and who are extremely receptive to psychological procedures.
For these combined reasons the Langley Porter Clinic patients are on the whole younger, more intelligent, better educated, and more receptive to psychological procedures than the general population.
In selecting subjects for the present investigation, an attempt was made to get a random sample of the Clinic population, exclusive of those who were under 20 years of age,2 Jewish, non-white, or foreign-born. Questionnaires were given to all ward patients who were able to cooperate and to the 7 subjects of a special research study on stomach ulcers. In the outpatient de-
2 A few subjects slightly younger than 20 were actually included in the final sample.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
partment, most cases were selected on a random basis by approaching all patients coming into the waiting room on certain days and by having ques- tionnaires administered by Clinic staff members who were instructed in the principles of random selection. Most subjects filled out the blanks on the spot. A few (less than 5 per cent) refused altogether. Some took the questionnaire home; of these, more than half returned the completed forms. Care was taken to preserve the anonymity of the subjects, and this further increased willingness to cooperate. Unfortunately, there is no exact record of what proportion of the blanks distributed were returned. It is estimated that the return was 85 to 90 per cent.
Thus, although degree of cooperativeness played some part in the selection of subjects, this factor was probably no larger than in many other groups studied. The sample is probably fairly representative of the Langley Porter Clinic population as a whole, within the limits stated above.
The 50 men and 7I women selected for study may be further e,;haracterized as follows:
Age. A majority were between 20 and 40 years-very few being under 20.
Sex. There were more women than men, due to the greater number of women patients in the Clinic as a whole. Most results were computed for men and women separately.
Marital status. Of the men, 58 per cent were married, 36 per cent unmar- ried, and 6 per cent divorced. In the case of the women, 62 per cent were married, 3I per cent unmarried, and 7 per cent divorced. Of the men who were married or who had been married, 56 per cent had children, 44 pet cent had no children. Of the women who were married or who had been married, 67 per cent had children, 33 per cent no children.
Education. Records were available on 46 of the men and 66 of the women; These records are probably not entirely accurate, since many people with little schooling try to conceal this fact. On the whole, however, the figures are well confirmed by inspection of the data on occupation. The majority
'of the group had completed high school, all had completed grammar school, and some had college educations. In computing averages, I year was added to the number of grades completed when there was additional vocational training such as nursing, business college, music conservatory, and so forth! The mean number of years of schooling for the men was I2. 2, for the women
12? 5?
Intelligence. Usable intelligence quotients were available on only one-thint
of the group. The only scores considered were those obtained by means of the Wechsler-Bellevue Test of Adult Intelligence. Among these, the onlyl subtests included were those judged as most probably valid, that is, as no? much affected by temporary disturbance due to the neurotic or psychoti~ condition. Since all cases showing wide discrepancies between two subtestSf and many others with low scores, were excluded, the obtained average I. Q. l
J
. l
? PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEALTH AND POTENTIAL FASCISM 895
of I I5 (for men and women combined, N = 37) seems spuriously high, the true average for the group probably being closer to IIO. This agrees pretty well \Vith an estimate made by the Chief Psychologist regarding the Langley Porter ? clinic population as a whole. It is slightly but significantly above the average of wo for the population at large.
Parents' birthplace. A considerable number of subjects had foreign-born parents. In the case of the men 70 per cent said both parents were born in the U. S. , I2 per cent gave both parents as foreign born, I6 per cent had one foreign-born parent, and 2 per cent gave no answer. In the case of the women, there were 65 per cent with both parents born in the U. S. , I8 per cent with both parents foreign born, I3 per cent with one foreign-born parent, and 4 per cent gave no answer.
Income. The data here (obtained on the questionnaire) are very incomplete because a great many subjects left the question unanswered or put "none"- either because of a sense of privacy or because they were temporarily unem- ployed due to their illness. In the case of the women the data are less com- plete than for the men, because on some of the questionnaire blanks used there was no question about husband's income. For the 33 men who indicated their income, the figures are as follows:
under $2,ooo a year: I8 per cent $2,ooo to $2,900 a year: 42 per cent $3,ooo to $3,900 a year: 28 per cent $4,ooo or above, a year: I2 per cent
Of the women, only I9 reported their own income and 29 gave the hus- band's income. None of the women earned $4,ooo or more; only 5 husbands earned $4,ooo or more. Most of the stated incomes fell between $2,ooo and $3,900.
Occupation. Of the 50 men, 22 per cent classed themselves as unemployed, students, etc. , 4I per cent could be classed as skilled workers, 2I per cent as white collar, and w per cent as professional workers. There were one un- skilled worker and two seamen. Of the 6o women who gave an occupation, 58 per cent were housewives, 23 per cent clerical or sales personnel, 8 per cent held other nonprofessional jobs, 5 per cent had professions, and 6 per cent were students.
Religion. Many religious denominations were represented in this group. They are discussed more fully in relation to political and social ideology, as revealed by the questionnaire, in Chapter VI. About one-half were Protestants and one-fifth to one-fourth were Catholics; the rest were agnostic or declined to state a preference.
Politics. With respect to political group membership the men were dis- tributed as follows: Blank, undecided, I6 per cent; Republicans, 24 per cent; Democrats, 54 per cent; Socialists and Communists, 6 per cent. The women
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
were grouped in the following way: Blank, undecided, 25 per cent; Re- publicans, 17 per cent; Democrats, 54 per cent; Socialists and Communists, 4 per cent.
These socioeconomic characteristics of our group were similar to those of several other groups in the study as a whole. Attempts to compare our sample with other clinic groups with regard to socioeconomic characteristics and psychiatric diagnostic groupings would have been rather difficult and was not necessary for our purpose. Since the Clinic draws its patients from a wide variety of sources, and attempts to serve as many applicants as possible, regardless of ability to pay, the Langley Porter population as a whole and our sample in particular is probably fairly characteristic of groups of patients from similar public psychiatric clinics in large American cities.
C. STATISTICAL RESULTS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE
The scales used included the 10-item E scale from Form 6o, a 28-item F scale, and two different PEC scales-a s-item one and a 12-item one. One- third of the questionnaires had been collected when the new and improved Form 45 was completed, and it seemed advisable to use it because it had better statistical properties, and because better comparisons between the Langley Porter group and other, nonpsychiatric groups could be made.
The main concern in the present chapter is with the characteristics of subjects scoring high and of subjects scoring low on the E scale. The sta- tistical properties of the E scale, for the Langley Porter groups of men and women are shown in Table 1 (XXII).
TABLE 1 (XXII)
RELIABILITY DATA ON THEE SCALE. FOR PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC MEN AND WOMEN
Men(N"'50)
Reliability . 75
Mean (total) 3. 67
Women(N"71) . 84
3. 65 4. 23 3. 06
1. 60 1. 81 1. 64
4. 21 1. 00-7. 00
Mean (Part A) Mean (Part B)
S. D. (total)
S. D. (Part A)
S. D. (PartB) 1. 70
Mean D. P. 4. 11 Range 1. 00-6. 20
3. 92 3. 42
1. 59 1. 78
? PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEALTH AND POTENTIAL FASCISM 897
The reliability of the scale is as high as that found in most other groups, and the mean D. P. is somewhat higher. (The mean scores show the Clinic men and women to be slightly-but not significantly-less prejudiced than the average for other groups. ) The mean scores (men: 3. 67; women: 3. 65) are close to the figures obtained by averaging the results for all groups studied
(Chapter IV). The means for men and for women are practically the same.
That both men and women score higher on Part A (the non-A-S part) of the scale than on Part B is consistent with findings in other groups.
? CRIMINALITY AND ANTIDEMOCRA TIC TRENDS ss5
seemed to help Art assert considerable independence of his father: e. g. , ex- plicitly rejecting the latter's anti-Semitism; evaluating him with some critical- ness as "spoiled" by his "rich parents" as "an only child"; criticizing his disci- pline as having "not much consistency"; and rejecting his father's discipline when it seemed unfair, in which case "you got nothing but a lot of argument from me. " The mother was in some ways a better model: her discipline "de- prived us of privileges" but "had more effect" because of her greater consist- ency-"she meant what she said. " The father's capriciousness, as a masculine model to identify with, seemed to confuse Art's conception of his own ego- identity. For instance, in pursuing the career of artist? and having to compro- mise by becoming a commercial artist, Art was following his father, who "of course was fostering any particular art ability I had. " But "curiously enough, I don't think I have any particular art ability" though "no one else thinks it is either ordinary or mediocre. " Instead, "I think I could become a good musi- cian, pianist" (like his mother); although he admits on questioning that "I don't play the piano at all. " Art even makes explicit his conflict over in- ternalizing the father as a masculine model: though the father "championed my causes. ? ? . I didn't like my father as champion-preferred my mother as champion. " Art recognizes that his father was "temperamental," "running away from something, too . . . managed to dissipate a rather large fortune" by drinking and gambling which caused "considerable domestic strife: I didn't like it. " Yet having himself "started drinking," done some gambling, chafed against "commercializing" his artistic bent by getting fired from sev- eral jobs, and "transferred my dependency" onto prison by check-writing -Art senses that he has "probably got some of (my father's) extravagant qualities. "
Don's life, too, has been dominated by a neurotic overattachment to his mother. His underlying love-dependency has been masked, however, by his reciprocal role of nurturant protector to his mother. In pre-adolescence he became actively involved in the "bitter quarrels" between his parents con- cerning the father's "going with women. " He took the mother's side, strongly criticizing the father, who repeatedly "licked my pants off" for intervening. "At the same time, I tried to bring them back together; they still care for each other. " But his efforts at mediation were unsuccessful: his parents were divorced when he was 12, and from then on Don supported himself, living with several other boys. (One wonders if Don's experience of being squeezed between his two adult giants partly determines his opinion that "both labor and business sort of ignore the little fellow. ") Years later, in the mother's third marriage, her husband "took her" for a great deal of money, which he lost in a succession of wildcat schemes. Eventually she went into debt, mortgaging the old family farm. Don, having tried in vain to persuade her to divorce the man, and inhibiting conscious wishes to kill him, borrowed heavily to keep her in funds. He then carried out a series of
? 886 THE AUTHORIT ARIAN PERSONALITY
bank robberies (by himself) to make these debts good, and to continue supplying money to his mother. On the last one, after a wild automo- bile and foot chase by a bank manager, he let himself be caught rather than shoot the unarmed man with his loaded gun. Don recognizes that his mother is "governed by emotional biases," by "willingness to accept and believe too much . . . generous to a fault . . . not too practical, forbearing to a fault ? ? ? not assertive enough. " But he respects her deeply as "quite a per- son" who "has taken up something every year of her life. . . . She has recently learned to play the accordion; she studied music all her life. " Dan's ego- identity, like Art's, seems to be confused with respect to mother-versus father-identifications: he feels that he takes after his father in not being "governed by emotional biases as Mother is. " This conflicts sharply with his statement that prison is "the first time that I haven't been beset by all sorts of emotional problems. " Ambivalence toward his mother's "emotional biases" is indicated by his first, abrupt response to questioning about his mother's weaknesses: "Let's call it emotional and let it go at that. "
Jim's involvement with his mother is still deeper, with respect to both love-dependency feelings and nurturant protection of her, as well as strong hostility close to the surface. Conflict with the father is also more violent. Jim has been very close to his mother, as to an intimate sweetheart: "I could talk to my mother about any subject under the sun. No embarrassment there. I was interested in the same things. . . . Both of us are a little sensitive in temperament, kind of quiet. I think we both like a certain amount of solitude. I used to like to take her out to dinner, to the theatre quite often. " During the depression, as he struggled against poverty to support his mother, she says that he was "a prince, and went without eating himself to buy fruit for me. " Jim is able to criticize her as "not social enough . . . by herself too much" and as "having a little temper," but he formulates his near-conscious ambivalence: "It's a little difficult to find weaknesses in one's mother. . . . We usually tend to overlook a mother's weaknesses. . . . I find it difficult to find very many frailties. " At another point Jim indicates unmistakably the process of con- sciously struggling to inhibit, by what he calls "insight," resentments toward his mother. Citing, in response to questioning, an occasion on which she had spanked him impulsively for something that wasn't his fault, he declares: "At the time I resented it. Today I don't. I know she did things the best she could. . . . I didn't have enough insight then. " Of the father, who deserted the family for eight years during the 'thirties, Jim says: "My dad used to get drunk quite often, and he would beat (my mother) physically. . . . He's a little crude, so- cially. He's very happy-go-lucky. He likes to fish. He's very egotistical, I think a little too much so. Very stubborn in argument. If he believes a thing, why that's it. He probably has an inferiority complex which he never admits to himself. " The mother expresses the view that Jim was reduced to "a hope- less state of mind . . . due to his father's hardness and cruelty. " But note
? ness. )
CRIMINALITY AND ANTIDEMOCRA TIC TRENDS
Jim's love-oriented wish to believe that his relation to his father was none- theless "a very friendly relationship. 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. " (Recall Jim's close relationship with an older man whom he persuaded to stop drinking, and who was in turn kind to him. )
Dick, too, was closer to his mother than to his father. "I always like to putter around the house with Mother. Mother and I were pals more than Father. . ? ? I confided in Mother a good deal. (What's an example? ) Well, sex. Mother was much more free about it than Father. " Nonetheless, Dick's conception of her is more "moral" and conventional than that of the other low-scoring interviewees, and reflects some dependence-for-things: He de- scribes her as a "good housekeeper, always interested in the kids' welfare. Liked to putter around the house. " He admired most in her "the fact that she's always looked after the kids the best she could, and kept a very nice
household and dresses nice. Personal appearance always kept up to snuff. Doesn't smoke and doesn't drink. " Dick is also unable to criticize her di- rectly: (Weaknesses? ) "Well, might say my dad is her principal weakness. He can talk her out of most anything. . . . (Other weaknesses? ) By golly, I don't know. I can't think of a one. " His hostility toward her for her greater strictness, as compared with the father, is not difficult to infer: "Dad tried to" exercise the discipline, "but he was too easy-going, so Mother did. . . . Never had a whipping. She used to take privileges away . . . for not coming home on time. That was the main thing. . ? . I got a wild streak for about six months before I went into the service. First got the use of a car then. Neglected my studies for picnics and dates in the evenings. " (One may wonder if this was not in protest against his mother's moral strictness). As for the father, who "always found something to laugh at-very easy to get along with," Dick mentions his main weaknesses as violations of the mother's strictness: "Might say he's a sucker for anybody's sob story," and "pretty lenient with his kids . . . would let us play hookey, would let me have the car a bit too often; too easy with money for us kids," whereas the mother was a"little more careful about money. " (Recall that Dick's fiancee, the crippled girl "back home," is "not wild-steady"; she might be a mother figure who could help him to inhibit resentment against his mother's strict-
I. "CRIMINALITY" IN HIGH AND LOW SCORERS
1. GENERAL
What relations may exist between "criminality" and the antidemocratic trends? Two kinds of data ? are available: mean scores on the scales for sub- groups composed of legally defined offense categories, and certain interview material. Table 5 (XXI) presents the E- and F-scale means for the legally
? 888
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY TABLE 5 (XXI)
MEAN E- AND F-SCALE SCORES OF THE PRISON INMATES, GROUPED ACCORDING TO OFFENSE
Offense Group
Number E Scale F Scale
of Cases Mean/Person/Item Mean/Person/Item
Check-writing 44 4. 45 4. 76 Robbery, burglary, theft 31 4. 63 4. 39 Murder 12 4. 31 4. 33 Sex offenses 23 5. 02 5. 33
110 4. 61 4. 73
defined offense categories-murderers, robbers, etc. None of the differences between means of different offense groups are statistically significant. As for the relevant interview material, the heterogeneity of offenses combined with the small number of cases would seem to discourage general conclusions. But perhaps if an appropriate level of generalization can be found, a brief re- view of this material might be rewarded with further insight. Such a review
is now presented, considering the interviewees one by one.
2. HIGH SCORERS (INCLUDING FASCISTS)
Complete details are not available as to the exact circumstances of each of the interviewees' offenses and their attitudes toward these offenses. None- theless the material obtained is highly suggestive.
Robert's murder of his hostile, despised mistress was the climax of a flight into sexual promiscuity which has been interpreted as an unconscious at- tempt to quiet fears of nonmasculinity that his wife's frigidity may have intensified. Ronald's habitual gang robbery "as a business" appears to have represented an easy way of obtaining money as well as an effort to "pro,ve" himself a "big operator. " Eugene's delinquencies consist of a long history of "trouble": getting easy money by check-writing, gambling, drinking, and especially fighting, of which he is both proud because of its manliness and ashamed because of being "a little wild. " In contrast with his submissiveness to his moralistic mother, by being "good, up to the time I was 17 years old," this behavior sounds like a belated protest of "masculinity. " Wilbur's mur- der of his landlord following eviction, and his development of paranoid anti-Greek delusions, appears to have been a desperate defiance of an emas- culating father figure, in order to reassert his own threatened masculinity. Clarence's sexual assaults on children, with his accompanying paranoid de- lusions of being "framed by the people in politics," seem to be attempts to
? ' CRIMINALITY AND ANTIDEMOCRA TIC TRENDS
"prove" masculinity and suppress homosexual panic. Buck's statutory rape of a young girl and molesting of his own small children probably have simi- lar meanings. His drunken check-writing spree with a despised prostitute seems to have been an attempt to bolster his masculinity by means of hetero- sexual promiscuity and "big-shot financier" behavior. Floyd's gang rob- beries were undisguised attempts to be a "big operator," to be "tough," and to gain easy power. Similarly for his disturbing the peace by drunken brawls, and his repeated Army A. W. O. L. 's, which characteristically involved a spree with "a married woman as usual. " Adrian's cap-pistol robbery was, by his own statement, an attempt to "prove" that he could "lead. " He himself attributes this act in part to some glandular treatments he had just completed a week before, which he feels made him "more masculine. "
The one feature which all of these offenses have in common is that they represent attempts to "prove" something. What they seek to "prove" is toughness, strength, power, all of which signify "masculinity. " More sig- nificantly, they are attempts to deny something, namely, what to the sub- ject means psychologically "weakness" and "nonmasculinity"-whether this be nonheterosexuality, impotence, homosexual impulses, submissiveness, de- pendence, softness, or passivity.
In a word, the high scorers' crimes express the emotional complex that seems to dominate their lives: desperate fear of their own "weakness," which they try to deny by a fa~ade of masculinity. Thus what superficially looks like direct, uninhibited expression of im- pulses in these men, turns out to be a cover-up for intense inhibition and fear.
3. LOW SCORERS
Art has himself interpreted his check-writing, in which he made no efforts to avoid getting caught, as an unconscious attempt to transfer his ambivalent dependency from his wife onto the prison "mother. " He ascribes the origin of this complex to his attachment to his mother. Don's bank robberies for his mother express a similar mother attachment, in which his own love- dependence is closely associated with nurturance toward his mother. Near- conscious ambivalence is verbalized toward the emotional biases by which her behavior is governed. Jim's clubbing of a middle-aged woman and then kissing and chewing her breasts-all carried out while drunk and in a dazed, fugue-like state, with later partial amnesia-suggests a direct expres- sion of primitive mother-oriented ambivalence. His earlier theft of an auto for a joy ride with an older woman may well have been related to the same general conflicts. Dick's theft of an auto to drive a woman to Reno to marry, while both were drunk, seems to have been part of his near-con-. scious search for consolation, after the frustration of his love-dependent- nurturant desire to marry the crippled girl "back home. "
Each of these men's offenses suggests different aspects of a common con- ? stellation which dominates their lives: longing to be loved by and to love ?
? THE AUTHORIT ARIAN PERSONALITY
a mother figure who will both "mother" them and let them "father" her- with near-conscious ambivalence to women, caused by frustration of this striving.
The crimes of the high and low scorers thus seem to express their different central strivings or life-themes: antiweakness defenses versus ambivalent quest-for-love. They do not appear to be differentiated, with respect to the manifest violence of their offenses. It seems that the same legal offense, ~nd the same degree of violence, may spring from quite different underlying per-
sonality structures; accordingly, as other writers have noted (5 r, 103 ), the legal offense per se is a poor index of susceptibility to rehabilitation. There is a strong suggestion, however, that low scorers offer considerably more prom- ise of rehabilitation than do high scorers. This follows from the apparent greater capacity of the former to establish genuine relationships with other people; just as their criminal behavior seems to have followed upon frustra- tion of the need for love, or upon some crisis in their love relationships, so would the establishment of new relationships offer the basis for changed be- havior. In the high scorers, on the other hand, relationships based primarily upon love would seem to be very difficult of achievement; rather, we should expect new relationships in their case to conform with the old pattern of dominance-submission, something which, though it might induce conform- ing behavior for the moment, would in the end only strengthen those per-
sonality structures which are basic to their criminality-and to <-heir fascist potential.
? CHAPTER XXII
PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEAL TH IN RE- LA TION TO POTENTIAL FASCISM: A STUDY OF PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC PATIENTS1 Maria Hertz Levinson
A. INTRODUCTION
If differences in ideology are significantly related to personality differences, then one would expect ideology to be related also to various kinds of mental disturbance. It is the contention of modern psychiatry that the experiences and behavior of mentally disturbed persons differ only in degree from those of normal people, and that the disturbances which any given individual de- velops depend in very large part on his personality structure. Indeed, most of the concepts of modern psychology of personality were first developed on the basis of material from psychologically unhealthy people. The reasons for this were similar to the reasons, given below, which prompted the present study of ideology and personality in psychiatric patients.
In the first place, it is usually easier to describe and to explain the more pathological personality patterns than the more "healthy" ones. "Healthy" people, to be sure, also have problems, i. e. , areas in which their adjustment to outer and inner stresses is not entirely smooth. They have, however, to a large extent "solved" these problems. They have succeeded in sublimat- ing or successfully controlling their primitive impulses and, to the extent that inner problems still exist, they are able to achieve life situations which help to minimize their conflicts and anxieties. Those who need therapy, have, on the other hand, whether they are aware of the need or not, failed to achieve the proper balance, and the nature and degree of their imbalance is usually plain to be seen. The primitive impulses break through in more or less undisguised forms, the defensive struggles against them can often be
1 The writer wishes to thank Dr. Karl Bowman, head of the Langley Porter Clinic, for making the Clinic facilities available. She also is indebted to Dr. Robert E. Harris, Chief Psychologist, for his generous support and numerous helpful suggestions, and to various members of the Clinic staff for their aid and cooperation.
891
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
clearly observed, and the conflicts with the environment are often still in progress. Thus, the ". elements" and adjustment mechanisms of the personality are here more clearly discernible than in psychologically healthy individuals.
In the second place, an advantage in using the psychiatric clinic as a labora- tory lies in the fact that here, more than in the usual research interview, peo- ple are willing to disclose the more intimate details of their lives. Thus, studies on patients who are strongly motivated to tell the truth about them- selves may help to validate the methods used for the study of other groups.
Thirdly, the present investigation sought an approach to the very dif- ficult problem of the relation between ideology and the dimension of psy- chological health-ill health. Are people with psychological disturbances- severe enough to make them seek psychiatric help-more prejudiced or less prejudiced than other groups of people? What is the general relation between neurosis and psychosis, on the one hand, and ideology on the other? Are par- ticular patterns of ideology significantly related to any of the common psychiatric diagnostic groups?
In an attempt to answer these and other questions, I 2 I psychiatric pa- tients were studied by means of our questionnaire and other methods. Data bearing on such factors as intelligence level, education, type of complaint, and psychiatric diagnosis were obtained from the Clinic records. In addition, 16 cases were studied intensively by means of interviews and the Thematic Apperception Test, and all material previously collected by the Clinic workers was brought into the picture. A majority of the subjects also took a standard- ized test known as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. In analyzing and interpreting these data, concepts and findings from the other areas of the study as a whole were employed to the full.
B. THE NA TURE OF THE SAMPLE
The subjects, 7I women and 50 men, were all patients at the Langley Porter Clinic in San Francisco, a state institution for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Violent cases and cases for permanent commitment are not admitted. At the time of the study reported in the present chapter, the inpatient department had three wards (about 45 beds) for patients requiring temporary hospitalization. Most of these cases can be classed as severe neu- roses or mild psychoses. The majority of the patients are treated in the out. . patient department, where adults are seen regularly for therapeutic inter- views and various psychological procedures.
The hospital facilities are open to everyone, regardless of income. FeeS range from $o (gratis) to $2 per interview and are graded according to ability to pay. In terms of income, occupation, and residence, most Clinic patients could be said to fall into the urban lower middle class, though in some caseS the lower class or the educated middle class are represented. Most upper-
? PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEALTH AND POTENTIAL FASCISM 893
class and upper middle-class individuals who wish psychiatric help go to private psychiatrists.
One may ask to what extent patients, of whatever social class, who seek help from a public psychiatric clinic are different from those people with psychological disturbances who do not seek such help. One important trait distinguishing the two groups is acceptance of psychiatry and of the idea that one's illness might have important psychological sources. This is true particularly of many persons who come to the Clinic of their own accord or at the instigation of relatives or friends. Almost as large a proportion of the patients, however, are referred by social agencies or by physicians to whom they have usually turned because of physical symptoms. Most of these peo- ple have little or no idea about psychiatry and many drop out of treatment after a few interviews have shown them that their "mind" is involved.
Another selective sampling factor is the admission policy of the hospital. The outpatient clinic arranges at least one interview for every person apply- ing, except in cases which should properly be handled by other agencies. The outpatients are selected therefore only on the basis of their wishing psychiatric help from a clinic. The inpatient department, on the other hand, is so small that only a limited portion of applications can be considered. The only cases admitted are those requiring immediate attention, those present- ing special diagnostic problems, and those which could best profit from temporary hospitalization. The judgment regarding prognosis rests, of course, on age and the nature of the disturbance, but also to a large extent on such factors as the patient's cooperativeness, desire to be helped, degree of insight, intelligence, and education. The staff's judgment as to whether the patient is a particularly worthwhile person also plays a role. This latter judgment rests in part on the personal impression the patient makes, that is, on his conformity with middle-class or upper middle-class standards of dress, occupational and educational level, and speech, manners, and so forth. The Langley Porter patients are referred from a great variety of sources: many kinds of agencies, army, navy, physicians, private individuals. About 20 per cent of the ap- plicants are self-referred; this group contains many college graduates and other younger people who feel that they can be helped in making better life choices and who are extremely receptive to psychological procedures.
For these combined reasons the Langley Porter Clinic patients are on the whole younger, more intelligent, better educated, and more receptive to psychological procedures than the general population.
In selecting subjects for the present investigation, an attempt was made to get a random sample of the Clinic population, exclusive of those who were under 20 years of age,2 Jewish, non-white, or foreign-born. Questionnaires were given to all ward patients who were able to cooperate and to the 7 subjects of a special research study on stomach ulcers. In the outpatient de-
2 A few subjects slightly younger than 20 were actually included in the final sample.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
partment, most cases were selected on a random basis by approaching all patients coming into the waiting room on certain days and by having ques- tionnaires administered by Clinic staff members who were instructed in the principles of random selection. Most subjects filled out the blanks on the spot. A few (less than 5 per cent) refused altogether. Some took the questionnaire home; of these, more than half returned the completed forms. Care was taken to preserve the anonymity of the subjects, and this further increased willingness to cooperate. Unfortunately, there is no exact record of what proportion of the blanks distributed were returned. It is estimated that the return was 85 to 90 per cent.
Thus, although degree of cooperativeness played some part in the selection of subjects, this factor was probably no larger than in many other groups studied. The sample is probably fairly representative of the Langley Porter Clinic population as a whole, within the limits stated above.
The 50 men and 7I women selected for study may be further e,;haracterized as follows:
Age. A majority were between 20 and 40 years-very few being under 20.
Sex. There were more women than men, due to the greater number of women patients in the Clinic as a whole. Most results were computed for men and women separately.
Marital status. Of the men, 58 per cent were married, 36 per cent unmar- ried, and 6 per cent divorced. In the case of the women, 62 per cent were married, 3I per cent unmarried, and 7 per cent divorced. Of the men who were married or who had been married, 56 per cent had children, 44 pet cent had no children. Of the women who were married or who had been married, 67 per cent had children, 33 per cent no children.
Education. Records were available on 46 of the men and 66 of the women; These records are probably not entirely accurate, since many people with little schooling try to conceal this fact. On the whole, however, the figures are well confirmed by inspection of the data on occupation. The majority
'of the group had completed high school, all had completed grammar school, and some had college educations. In computing averages, I year was added to the number of grades completed when there was additional vocational training such as nursing, business college, music conservatory, and so forth! The mean number of years of schooling for the men was I2. 2, for the women
12? 5?
Intelligence. Usable intelligence quotients were available on only one-thint
of the group. The only scores considered were those obtained by means of the Wechsler-Bellevue Test of Adult Intelligence. Among these, the onlyl subtests included were those judged as most probably valid, that is, as no? much affected by temporary disturbance due to the neurotic or psychoti~ condition. Since all cases showing wide discrepancies between two subtestSf and many others with low scores, were excluded, the obtained average I. Q. l
J
. l
? PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEALTH AND POTENTIAL FASCISM 895
of I I5 (for men and women combined, N = 37) seems spuriously high, the true average for the group probably being closer to IIO. This agrees pretty well \Vith an estimate made by the Chief Psychologist regarding the Langley Porter ? clinic population as a whole. It is slightly but significantly above the average of wo for the population at large.
Parents' birthplace. A considerable number of subjects had foreign-born parents. In the case of the men 70 per cent said both parents were born in the U. S. , I2 per cent gave both parents as foreign born, I6 per cent had one foreign-born parent, and 2 per cent gave no answer. In the case of the women, there were 65 per cent with both parents born in the U. S. , I8 per cent with both parents foreign born, I3 per cent with one foreign-born parent, and 4 per cent gave no answer.
Income. The data here (obtained on the questionnaire) are very incomplete because a great many subjects left the question unanswered or put "none"- either because of a sense of privacy or because they were temporarily unem- ployed due to their illness. In the case of the women the data are less com- plete than for the men, because on some of the questionnaire blanks used there was no question about husband's income. For the 33 men who indicated their income, the figures are as follows:
under $2,ooo a year: I8 per cent $2,ooo to $2,900 a year: 42 per cent $3,ooo to $3,900 a year: 28 per cent $4,ooo or above, a year: I2 per cent
Of the women, only I9 reported their own income and 29 gave the hus- band's income. None of the women earned $4,ooo or more; only 5 husbands earned $4,ooo or more. Most of the stated incomes fell between $2,ooo and $3,900.
Occupation. Of the 50 men, 22 per cent classed themselves as unemployed, students, etc. , 4I per cent could be classed as skilled workers, 2I per cent as white collar, and w per cent as professional workers. There were one un- skilled worker and two seamen. Of the 6o women who gave an occupation, 58 per cent were housewives, 23 per cent clerical or sales personnel, 8 per cent held other nonprofessional jobs, 5 per cent had professions, and 6 per cent were students.
Religion. Many religious denominations were represented in this group. They are discussed more fully in relation to political and social ideology, as revealed by the questionnaire, in Chapter VI. About one-half were Protestants and one-fifth to one-fourth were Catholics; the rest were agnostic or declined to state a preference.
Politics. With respect to political group membership the men were dis- tributed as follows: Blank, undecided, I6 per cent; Republicans, 24 per cent; Democrats, 54 per cent; Socialists and Communists, 6 per cent. The women
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
were grouped in the following way: Blank, undecided, 25 per cent; Re- publicans, 17 per cent; Democrats, 54 per cent; Socialists and Communists, 4 per cent.
These socioeconomic characteristics of our group were similar to those of several other groups in the study as a whole. Attempts to compare our sample with other clinic groups with regard to socioeconomic characteristics and psychiatric diagnostic groupings would have been rather difficult and was not necessary for our purpose. Since the Clinic draws its patients from a wide variety of sources, and attempts to serve as many applicants as possible, regardless of ability to pay, the Langley Porter population as a whole and our sample in particular is probably fairly characteristic of groups of patients from similar public psychiatric clinics in large American cities.
C. STATISTICAL RESULTS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE
The scales used included the 10-item E scale from Form 6o, a 28-item F scale, and two different PEC scales-a s-item one and a 12-item one. One- third of the questionnaires had been collected when the new and improved Form 45 was completed, and it seemed advisable to use it because it had better statistical properties, and because better comparisons between the Langley Porter group and other, nonpsychiatric groups could be made.
The main concern in the present chapter is with the characteristics of subjects scoring high and of subjects scoring low on the E scale. The sta- tistical properties of the E scale, for the Langley Porter groups of men and women are shown in Table 1 (XXII).
TABLE 1 (XXII)
RELIABILITY DATA ON THEE SCALE. FOR PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC MEN AND WOMEN
Men(N"'50)
Reliability . 75
Mean (total) 3. 67
Women(N"71) . 84
3. 65 4. 23 3. 06
1. 60 1. 81 1. 64
4. 21 1. 00-7. 00
Mean (Part A) Mean (Part B)
S. D. (total)
S. D. (Part A)
S. D. (PartB) 1. 70
Mean D. P. 4. 11 Range 1. 00-6. 20
3. 92 3. 42
1. 59 1. 78
? PSYCHOLOGICAL ILL HEALTH AND POTENTIAL FASCISM 897
The reliability of the scale is as high as that found in most other groups, and the mean D. P. is somewhat higher. (The mean scores show the Clinic men and women to be slightly-but not significantly-less prejudiced than the average for other groups. ) The mean scores (men: 3. 67; women: 3. 65) are close to the figures obtained by averaging the results for all groups studied
(Chapter IV). The means for men and for women are practically the same.
That both men and women score higher on Part A (the non-A-S part) of the scale than on Part B is consistent with findings in other groups.
