Traits ascribed to
childhood
self:
aM.
aM.
Adorno-T-Authoritarian-Personality-Harper-Bros-1950
" Interested in experimental forms of writing.
F23: Subject has been employed as a junior chemist at Development for a year and a half. She is disappointed in her job because she had hoped to do research, instead of which she is doing routine work such as could be done by a lab assistant. "You are not allowed to do things your own way, nor are you given any responsi- bility at unless you have a Ph. D. " Subject is also annoyed by the lack of honesty in her fellow workers: they practice what is known as "pencil chemistry"; i. e. , if a reading fails to give the expected result, they will fake the result. She went and told the boss about this, but he did not do anything about it. "They won't do anything on your say-so, and he didn't even check the results for himself. " In re- sponse to a question as to whether she had ever wished that she were a boy, subject replied: "Yes, I do very much because then I could do what I liked. When I first came here they asked me what I would like to do and I told them organic chemistry; so they asked me whether I would like to do organic analysis and I said, yes, without thinking very much about it. The work turned out to be simple filtrations which were interesting at first, but very easy to learn. . . . I want to quit next summer and get my Ph. D. because perhaps then I might have a better chance to do what I want. "
M44: "One thing that I think was important, I always liked school and took pride in it. I was always afraid that I might lose out there. "
Emphasis on humanitarian values is exemplified by the following records of interviewees scoring extremely low on the ethnocentrism questionnaire. Some of them refer to specific and concrete plans for help in the execution of a program with humanitarian implications, while others may do no more than pay lip-service in terms of vague generalities.
M53: (Satisfactions? ) "Well, this is a little obscure . . . a certain justification of one's own existence . . . stocks and bonds never convinced me, because it didn't seem to me to make a damn bit of difference (to the public welfare). This work. . . . I can see results quickly . . . and honest-to-goodness results. "
Msg: "To help those less fortunate than oneself, and to be a part of the commu- nity or society that one is in, to take an active pa~t in it, and being kind and generous and to more or less have a high regard for your fellow human being. . . . "
M 15: "Started out in college with a strong interest in social studies, history. This interest is still strong, but now it is combined with a desire to work with people. Counseling appears to be my present choice. (Idea behind it? ) Well, in our church I have observed how many people have problems. I think I would like to help them. (What kinds of probems? ) Personal. . . . (Your religious point of view at present? ) You might call it something like Social Religion. (Q) It is a sin to be indifferent to progress. "
The statements just quoted are good examples of values important to low- scoring subjects: real achievement often accompanied by anxiety over pos- sible failure, intellectuality, and socially constructive . goals.
6. DENIAL OF SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSA TION
In high-scoring subjects the general lack of insight and the unrealistic view of oneself seem to be connected with a tendency toward a certain
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 433
wishful denial of genuine causality-as revealed by easy explanations of one's own shortcomings in terms of heredity, physical or accidental factors, etc. - or the denial of the symptomatic character of one's behavioral manifesta- tions. Thus, as will be discussed more fully in Chapter XXII, high-scoring subjects in the sample drawn from a psychiatric clinic tend to refer to their symptoms as something merely physical, or as caused by a "hereditary taint," or as otherwise alien to the ego of the subject.
On the other hand, low-scoring subjects tend in general toward socio- psychological explanations, conceiving of the present self in the context of its development under the influence of social and psychological factors. Thus, while talking about themselves, these subjects spontaneously refer back to their childhood, using explicitly such phrases as "it may go back to infancy" in describing the cause of behavioral deviations. One low-scoring subject relates his not having many fears to the fact that his "sister had a lot of fears. " "I used that as a technique not to have any," he said. To be sure, all this should not be taken to imply that the low-scoring subjects in question necessarily possess the correct or full insight into themselves; it means only that there is a greater inclination to think in psychodynamic terms and to seek explanation of one's own behavior in these terms.
The difference between the two attitudes (encompassed in Category 38) is statistically highly significant (at the 1 per cent level) for both men and women.
7. PROPERTY AS EXTENSION OF SELF
The basic insecurity that lies beneath the overt denials and overconfidence of the high-scoring subjects may be a chief contributing factor in their exaggerated wish for property, in the sense of a conception of property as an extension of the self. There is an overlibidinization of money and property, per se. Low-scoring subjects, on the other hand, tend to have a more realistic attitude toward money, knowing fully its value as a means, yet not over- estimating it by making it an end in itself. They generally conceive of
property as means to an end.
Differentiation between prejudiced and unprejudiced groups under this aspect (as covered by Category 39) is statistically highly significant.
The following quotations from high-scoring subjects are examples of their search for "basic security and independence" through money or through the accumulation of goods. It often seems that the need has become functionally autonomous, to use a term by Allport (9), and is as such insatiable.
F24: (How much is enough? ) "Quite a bit-I have to make good-get lots of it and get it fast. "
F32: The desire for $woo a month or "all I could get" represents a wish for secu- rity. The more one ears, the more one can put aside.
M57: (What might a lot of money make possible for you? ) "Buy more cattle, more land, that's my greatest ambition. "
? 434
THE AUTHORITARIA~ PERSONALITY
Records of low-scoring subjects, on the other hand, more often show emphasis on money as a means of obtaining some of the desirable things in life or else of achieving some socially constructive goal. They furthermore illustrate the greater casualness, passivity, and more pleasure-seeking attitude of the low scorers with respect to money and possessions. Enjoyment of music and books is often mentioned; and there is generally more emphasis on specific things to be obtained rather than on the more vague and perhaps imaginary goal of "security" as stressed by high scorers.
Examples are found in the following records of low-scoring subjects:
M42: "I think the best things are free, but lots of times . . . let's see . . . it takes a certain amount of money . . . to do a few things with friends, etc. (Saving vs. spend- ing? ) I don't believe in saving money to the point of a mania . . . but planning for the future is something. . . . l don't make a point of saving a certain amount of money every month . . . no use pinching pennies now, so that you can live better later. . . . "
M44: (What do you miss most that your present income doesn't permit? ) "A good radio with a record player on it, but that's just an immediate thing. . . . "
M48: (What might a lot of money make possible for you? ) "Mean just a good living. I like to go to plays, concerts, etc. , to have a nice home, etc. "
M49: (What do with $75oo? ) "Well, of course, it would give us a comfortable home, to begin with, and a good living, and my wife has always wanted to write, and she's started on several ideas, and that would give her enough to get materials and go ahead with her writing, and-if she did go into writing-we could hire the people to do the house cleaning and laundry, so as to give her more time . . . and she always likes to go to plays and concerts . . . and we could indulge in those things without jeopardizing. . . . "
F63: "Money has never meant much to me. Maybe it is stupid and unrealistic. But it is the work itself that gives me satisfaction. "
F7o: (If you had more, what would you do? ) "I would probably spend it. (On what? ) Well, maybe I would buy some more dishes and silver, although I have more than I can use now; probably not material things. If I had a lot of money I didn't know what to do with, I might run a small private hospital. . . . I don't think I'd buy expensive objects of art. Well, maybe I would. I might buy quite a few material things, go to a lot of concerts and plays. One seems to be able to spend a lot of money on those. "
F27: "That isn't much, I guess. Neither of us wants much. (Is it enough for a family of six? ) Well, what I meant was that we want a comfortable home without any worry, plenty of books, and a good record player with lots of records. We could be happy. "
D. CONCEPTION OF CHILDHOOD SELF
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
The discussion of attitudes toward oneself thus far has concerned traits which our interviewed subjects ascribed to themselves as of the present. As a regular feature of the interview, subjects were further ? asked the question: "What were you like as a child? " Obviously, answers to this question must not necessarily be taken to reflect the actual nature of the subjects as chil-
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 435
dren. The answers may well refer in part or predominantly to the subject's image of himself as a child. The two alternative interpretations of the mate- rial will have to be kept in mind throughout the discussion which follows. The results of a study on social discrimination in children, including inter- views with their parents (30), give support to the assumption that the descriptions which our subjects give of themselves show at least a certain degree of correspondence with the actual facts.
The rating categories used in the evaluation of this part of the interview material are as follows:
INTERVIEW SCORING MANUAL: CONCEPTION OF CHILDHOOD SELF
(to Table 4(XI))
PREsUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTs PREsUMABLY "Low" VARIANTs
4oM. Traits ascribed to childhood self hyMen:
a. Unmanageable, difficult, stub- born, aggressive, spoiled, sensi- tive, etc.
b. Bland childhood. Happy, ac- tive, no worries, no shyness, etc.
c. "Gang"-oriented
40W. Traits ascribed to childhood self by Women:
a. Difficult child. Nervous, frail, etc.
b. Bland childhood
a. (I) Quiet, shy, self-conscious (z) Tomboy, independent
b. Adult-oriented, internalized
standards
41. Discontinuity between child- 41. Continuity between childhood
hood self and now self and now
42. Childhood habits (Write in each habit men- tioned, e. g. , nail-biting, thumb-sucking, bed- wetting, nightmares, fear of dark, fear of
animals, etc. )
43? Time of earliest sex experience remembered
(W rite in: Childhood [1-6]; Prepuberty [7-12]; Adolescence [13-19]; Adult life [zo- ])
44? Natureofearliestsexexperienceremembered (Write in: e. g. , homosexual or heterosexual sex play; dates; kissing; heterosexual or homosexual intercourse, masturbation)
45? Source of early sex information (\Vrite in: e. g. , mother; father; male or female sib; other relative; other adult; books; the gang; etc. )
46. Little spontaneous comment 46. Considerable spontaneous com- ment
a. Quiet, shy, self-conscious
b. Adult-oriented, internalized standards. Read a lot; interest in school and teachers; achieve- ment striving
c. Isolated or sociable with few
? TABLE 4 (XI)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON ATTITUDE TOWARD CHILDHOOD SELF
FOR 80 SUBJECTS SCORING EXTREMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE ETIINIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
Interview rating categories Sex (abbreviated from Manual)
40.
Traits ascribed to childhood self:
aM. Unmanageable, d i f f i c u l t ( H ) v s . Men quiet, shy(L)
aw. Difficult child(H) vs. quiet, Women shy, or tomboy; independent(L)
b. Bland childhood(H) v~ adult- Men
Number of "High" (H~ and "Low" (L) ratings received by
Sums of instances Level of statistical
"positive" "negative" significance reached
oriented internalized standards(L)
41. Discontinuity(H) vs. con- tinuity(L) between childhood self and now
46. Little(H) vs. considerable (L) spontaneous comment
Women
Men Women
Men Women
7
16 1!
13
! . Q
13 5
4 1 9 5
24 8 2 20 6 2
20 men and 25 women "high scorers" H L
10 l 95
. i 7 65
3 8
11 4 10 5
20 men and 15 women
"low scorers" H L
(percentage)
3 ? . . 16 4 2 116 7
1
0
1 1
4
1
1. ? _ 20 8 5
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 437
Table 4(XI) presents the quantitative results of the analysis of the inter- views. Categories 42 to 45 have been omitted from consideration since we gained the impression that there was a certain reluctance on the part of some subjects to talk freely about the topics concerned.
2. "DIFFICUL T" CHILD
There [s a tendency, though not a statistically significant one, for both high-scoring men and women to report more frequently than low scorers that they were "difficult" as children. Among the male interviewees, IO high scorers as contrasted with only r low scorer describe themselves as unman- ageable, difficult, stubborn, aggressive, spoiled and/or sensitive in childhood (Category 4oa. M).
Aside from the possibility of this having actually been the case, it seems that some of the high-scoring subjects may seek in this way to justify the harsh discipline exerted by their parents by taking the blame themselves for any clashes that may have occurred. A further motive for this type of de- scription may be the wish, known to be present in high-scoring men (see above, Chapter VII, to conceive of oneself as possessing ''rugged mascu- linity. " The following examples from the records of high-scoring men seem to support both of the latter alternatives offered here as explanations.
M4o: (What were you like as a child? ) "Rowdy, I guess. Typical fresh Irish kid. . . . Snot-nosed, they used to call it. (Q) Oh, steal Joe Blow's apples (and similar pranks). If there was any trouble, I was in it. (Q) Oh, just a kid-I mean, nothing serious. "
M2o: "I had a pretty mean streak in me, especially around ten, pretty mis- chievous. My grandparents tried to hold me back. See that I'd play with the right kind of children. When I was around 12, I began to be pretty snotty to them and run around any time I wanted to. Sometimes I didn't do my work. At times, I'd feel ashamed of myself. . . . Makes me feel bad now. . . . (Q) No money. I couldn't run around much without money. Always tried to make it some way. . . . Three or four of us ran around together. Pretty snotty. . . . Maybe they tried to hold me down too much when I was younger. Wouldn't let me play, only with certain children. "
There is a corresponding though less pronounced trend in high-scoring women; they report that as children they were difficult, nervous, frail (Cate- gory 4oa. W). . Examples are:
F22: ''All I can remember is that mother said I was very fussy and finicky espe- cially about what I ate. "
F31: "I used to cry all the time. I don't know why, but people hurt my feelings. My brother took that out of me. I fought with him, and it got to the point where I could dish it out. "
F66: "I cried an awful lot when he died. Mother says I cried and ran out of rooms for years after he died because I didn't like to see her with any other man. She says I ruined her chances. "
Low-scoring subjects, on the other hand, show a tendency to describe
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
themselves as quiet, shy, self-conscious, or as unpopular in childhood. Low- scoring women, furthermore, relate somewhat more readily than do the high- scoring to have been "tomboys" and independent as children (Category 4oa, continued). Examples from the records of low-scoring subjects follow:
M48: (What sort of a person were you? ) "Hard for me to say-you mean, was I quiet? Well, would like to have been noisier, was always somewhat repressed by the other kids . . . shunned by (the leading cliques in school) . . . though I finally got in with my own gang about my own level. . . . "
M53: (What sort of person were you? ) "Hard to evaluate. . . . I think I was fairly quiet. . . . I was supposed to be pretty well behaved. Don't think I was remarkable in any respect. "
Mss: "Timid about dancing, afraid to dance; afraid to go out for sports for fear of being not a good player. " ?
F27 "I was an awful drip really. I was a very unhappy child. I think it was be- cause I was so fat. And I was abnormally shy. It used to make me mad when teachers would point me out as a model child for being so quiet. I knew I was only quiet because I was scared of everybody there. At home I was a noisy madcap. Of course, at home I was the center of the stage. Everyone thought I was wonderful. At school I guess I didn't feel appreciated. I knew I was very superior intellectually and was sort of a snob about that-but I didn't really care about that. I wanted to be liked and nobody liked me. So I just hurried home. All through grammar school I only had two friends-both girls. I never knew a boy well enough to really talk to. I guess those girls must have really tried to be friends with me because I never could have made any effort. "
Floyd Allport and D. A. Hartmann (8) found similar results when they administered a scale to measure political attitudes as well as several personal- ity schedules. They found that the liberals-to use our terminology-ex- ceeded the conservatives in "tender-mindedness," awareness of inner motives and conflicts, touchiness in personal matters, sensitiveness to the opinions of others, and a retiring nature. They are less expansive and self-assertive.
3. BLANDNESS VS. ADULT-ORIENTATION
It was assumed, in line with their general tendency toward denial and toward reluctance to face difficulties, that high-scoring subjects would be inclined further to describe their childhood as bland, happy, active, and without worries or shyness (Category 4ob). W e were aware of the fact that this assumption is in apparent contradiction to the trend just referred to, namely that high scorers lean toward describing themselves as having been difficult children. However, it is quite common to find denial of difficulties in such subjects side by side with revelation of difficulties. In descriptions of the childhood self there seem to be on the whole fewer manifestations of denial than in any other field with which we have dealt so far. This might be due to the fact that childhood is a possible projection screen for undesirable traits, offering another possibility of rendering these traits "ego-alien. " Obvi- ously, there is comparatively little necessity to glorify one's childhood, a period so far away in time. On the contrary, some of our high-scoring sub-
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 439
jects seem to find satisfaction in stressing handicaps, such as bad constitution, as something they had to overcome, thus making their success appear the more impressive.
Another aspect of childhood (referred to in the opposite variant of Cate- gory 4ob) is found with considerable frequency in the reports of low-scoring subjects. It may be summarized as orientation toward the adult and the espousal of internalized standards, as manifested in reading a lot, an interest in school and teachers, and in achievement striving. This trend is especially typical of the group of low-scoring men, in which 16 interviewees give a picture of themselves as having been adult-oriented in childhood, as com- pared with only I high-scoring man who does so. In women the correspond- ing figures are 7 and o.
This picture is substantiated in the direct study by the present author, referred to above (30), of children scoring low on a prejudice scale espe- cially designed for them. Though such children show less submission to authority, they tend to be genuinely more oriented toward adult values, such as interest in work.
Examples from both low-scoring men and women follow:
M53: (Especially remarkable? ) "I don't know. I don't think so. I was a pretty good student in school. Seemed to have a lot of friends. I don't remember any out- standing disappointments. (Worries as a child? ) Oh, let's see, that's difficult. I don't know. I can't remember any recurring worries as a child. (What about little things? ) Well, let me think. Shortly after my father's death, I worried about that for a while. Growing up without a father. . . . In high school I think I worried a lot about future occupation and how to earn a living. "
Ms6: (What were you like as a child? ) "Oh, very serious . . . read Rippants' 'His- tory of the World' at nine. My grandfather, when I was nine or ten, gave me Wash- ington Irving's 'Conquest of Granada,' which meant a great deal to me-gave me a sense of objectivity in history . . . he sometimes gave me temperance books. "
F27: "I was reading Dickens and Thackeray when other children were on Brer Rabbit, and knew all about the symphonies and operas while they were on nursery rhymes. "
Along the same line is a certain tendency on the part of the low-scoring subjects to report relative isolation in childhood, while high scorers refer to what may be defined as gang-sociability (Category 4oc), including such aspects as popularity and the holding of offices in clubs and high school fraternities and sororities. No figures for this trend are given in Table 4(XI), but examples from records of low-scoring subjects describing shyness and relative isolation in childhood are given here:
Msg: (What were you like as a child? ) "Always shy and when I was around a large group it was quite a while before I would enter into the spirit of things. "
F27: "I knew I was quiet because I was scared of everybody there. . . . I wanted to be liked and nobody liked me. So I just hurried home. "
F75: "In a way we are all alike in our family-shy and afraid of people. W e don't discuss it but I have noticed it in all of us, even my sister who doesn't act like it often.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
44?
My mother has always pushed us and wanted us to be different-go-getters-but she isn't. I was the worst-the sort who would cross the street rather than say hello to a friend. . . . I remember wishing my mother would leave me alone to do what I wanted. That would have been bad though. I guess, because I would have grown up a hermit. Even now, I prefer to curl up with a book or go for a walk by myself. "
M49: "Well, when we were small, we spent all the time we possibly could out-of- doors, and when we came out here, we never associated with . . . never had any con- tact with other children outside of school time (worked, helping at home) . . . just
played together at home. . . . Neither of us ever went out for any sports .
F23: Subject has been employed as a junior chemist at Development for a year and a half. She is disappointed in her job because she had hoped to do research, instead of which she is doing routine work such as could be done by a lab assistant. "You are not allowed to do things your own way, nor are you given any responsi- bility at unless you have a Ph. D. " Subject is also annoyed by the lack of honesty in her fellow workers: they practice what is known as "pencil chemistry"; i. e. , if a reading fails to give the expected result, they will fake the result. She went and told the boss about this, but he did not do anything about it. "They won't do anything on your say-so, and he didn't even check the results for himself. " In re- sponse to a question as to whether she had ever wished that she were a boy, subject replied: "Yes, I do very much because then I could do what I liked. When I first came here they asked me what I would like to do and I told them organic chemistry; so they asked me whether I would like to do organic analysis and I said, yes, without thinking very much about it. The work turned out to be simple filtrations which were interesting at first, but very easy to learn. . . . I want to quit next summer and get my Ph. D. because perhaps then I might have a better chance to do what I want. "
M44: "One thing that I think was important, I always liked school and took pride in it. I was always afraid that I might lose out there. "
Emphasis on humanitarian values is exemplified by the following records of interviewees scoring extremely low on the ethnocentrism questionnaire. Some of them refer to specific and concrete plans for help in the execution of a program with humanitarian implications, while others may do no more than pay lip-service in terms of vague generalities.
M53: (Satisfactions? ) "Well, this is a little obscure . . . a certain justification of one's own existence . . . stocks and bonds never convinced me, because it didn't seem to me to make a damn bit of difference (to the public welfare). This work. . . . I can see results quickly . . . and honest-to-goodness results. "
Msg: "To help those less fortunate than oneself, and to be a part of the commu- nity or society that one is in, to take an active pa~t in it, and being kind and generous and to more or less have a high regard for your fellow human being. . . . "
M 15: "Started out in college with a strong interest in social studies, history. This interest is still strong, but now it is combined with a desire to work with people. Counseling appears to be my present choice. (Idea behind it? ) Well, in our church I have observed how many people have problems. I think I would like to help them. (What kinds of probems? ) Personal. . . . (Your religious point of view at present? ) You might call it something like Social Religion. (Q) It is a sin to be indifferent to progress. "
The statements just quoted are good examples of values important to low- scoring subjects: real achievement often accompanied by anxiety over pos- sible failure, intellectuality, and socially constructive . goals.
6. DENIAL OF SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSA TION
In high-scoring subjects the general lack of insight and the unrealistic view of oneself seem to be connected with a tendency toward a certain
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 433
wishful denial of genuine causality-as revealed by easy explanations of one's own shortcomings in terms of heredity, physical or accidental factors, etc. - or the denial of the symptomatic character of one's behavioral manifesta- tions. Thus, as will be discussed more fully in Chapter XXII, high-scoring subjects in the sample drawn from a psychiatric clinic tend to refer to their symptoms as something merely physical, or as caused by a "hereditary taint," or as otherwise alien to the ego of the subject.
On the other hand, low-scoring subjects tend in general toward socio- psychological explanations, conceiving of the present self in the context of its development under the influence of social and psychological factors. Thus, while talking about themselves, these subjects spontaneously refer back to their childhood, using explicitly such phrases as "it may go back to infancy" in describing the cause of behavioral deviations. One low-scoring subject relates his not having many fears to the fact that his "sister had a lot of fears. " "I used that as a technique not to have any," he said. To be sure, all this should not be taken to imply that the low-scoring subjects in question necessarily possess the correct or full insight into themselves; it means only that there is a greater inclination to think in psychodynamic terms and to seek explanation of one's own behavior in these terms.
The difference between the two attitudes (encompassed in Category 38) is statistically highly significant (at the 1 per cent level) for both men and women.
7. PROPERTY AS EXTENSION OF SELF
The basic insecurity that lies beneath the overt denials and overconfidence of the high-scoring subjects may be a chief contributing factor in their exaggerated wish for property, in the sense of a conception of property as an extension of the self. There is an overlibidinization of money and property, per se. Low-scoring subjects, on the other hand, tend to have a more realistic attitude toward money, knowing fully its value as a means, yet not over- estimating it by making it an end in itself. They generally conceive of
property as means to an end.
Differentiation between prejudiced and unprejudiced groups under this aspect (as covered by Category 39) is statistically highly significant.
The following quotations from high-scoring subjects are examples of their search for "basic security and independence" through money or through the accumulation of goods. It often seems that the need has become functionally autonomous, to use a term by Allport (9), and is as such insatiable.
F24: (How much is enough? ) "Quite a bit-I have to make good-get lots of it and get it fast. "
F32: The desire for $woo a month or "all I could get" represents a wish for secu- rity. The more one ears, the more one can put aside.
M57: (What might a lot of money make possible for you? ) "Buy more cattle, more land, that's my greatest ambition. "
? 434
THE AUTHORITARIA~ PERSONALITY
Records of low-scoring subjects, on the other hand, more often show emphasis on money as a means of obtaining some of the desirable things in life or else of achieving some socially constructive goal. They furthermore illustrate the greater casualness, passivity, and more pleasure-seeking attitude of the low scorers with respect to money and possessions. Enjoyment of music and books is often mentioned; and there is generally more emphasis on specific things to be obtained rather than on the more vague and perhaps imaginary goal of "security" as stressed by high scorers.
Examples are found in the following records of low-scoring subjects:
M42: "I think the best things are free, but lots of times . . . let's see . . . it takes a certain amount of money . . . to do a few things with friends, etc. (Saving vs. spend- ing? ) I don't believe in saving money to the point of a mania . . . but planning for the future is something. . . . l don't make a point of saving a certain amount of money every month . . . no use pinching pennies now, so that you can live better later. . . . "
M44: (What do you miss most that your present income doesn't permit? ) "A good radio with a record player on it, but that's just an immediate thing. . . . "
M48: (What might a lot of money make possible for you? ) "Mean just a good living. I like to go to plays, concerts, etc. , to have a nice home, etc. "
M49: (What do with $75oo? ) "Well, of course, it would give us a comfortable home, to begin with, and a good living, and my wife has always wanted to write, and she's started on several ideas, and that would give her enough to get materials and go ahead with her writing, and-if she did go into writing-we could hire the people to do the house cleaning and laundry, so as to give her more time . . . and she always likes to go to plays and concerts . . . and we could indulge in those things without jeopardizing. . . . "
F63: "Money has never meant much to me. Maybe it is stupid and unrealistic. But it is the work itself that gives me satisfaction. "
F7o: (If you had more, what would you do? ) "I would probably spend it. (On what? ) Well, maybe I would buy some more dishes and silver, although I have more than I can use now; probably not material things. If I had a lot of money I didn't know what to do with, I might run a small private hospital. . . . I don't think I'd buy expensive objects of art. Well, maybe I would. I might buy quite a few material things, go to a lot of concerts and plays. One seems to be able to spend a lot of money on those. "
F27: "That isn't much, I guess. Neither of us wants much. (Is it enough for a family of six? ) Well, what I meant was that we want a comfortable home without any worry, plenty of books, and a good record player with lots of records. We could be happy. "
D. CONCEPTION OF CHILDHOOD SELF
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
The discussion of attitudes toward oneself thus far has concerned traits which our interviewed subjects ascribed to themselves as of the present. As a regular feature of the interview, subjects were further ? asked the question: "What were you like as a child? " Obviously, answers to this question must not necessarily be taken to reflect the actual nature of the subjects as chil-
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 435
dren. The answers may well refer in part or predominantly to the subject's image of himself as a child. The two alternative interpretations of the mate- rial will have to be kept in mind throughout the discussion which follows. The results of a study on social discrimination in children, including inter- views with their parents (30), give support to the assumption that the descriptions which our subjects give of themselves show at least a certain degree of correspondence with the actual facts.
The rating categories used in the evaluation of this part of the interview material are as follows:
INTERVIEW SCORING MANUAL: CONCEPTION OF CHILDHOOD SELF
(to Table 4(XI))
PREsUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTs PREsUMABLY "Low" VARIANTs
4oM. Traits ascribed to childhood self hyMen:
a. Unmanageable, difficult, stub- born, aggressive, spoiled, sensi- tive, etc.
b. Bland childhood. Happy, ac- tive, no worries, no shyness, etc.
c. "Gang"-oriented
40W. Traits ascribed to childhood self by Women:
a. Difficult child. Nervous, frail, etc.
b. Bland childhood
a. (I) Quiet, shy, self-conscious (z) Tomboy, independent
b. Adult-oriented, internalized
standards
41. Discontinuity between child- 41. Continuity between childhood
hood self and now self and now
42. Childhood habits (Write in each habit men- tioned, e. g. , nail-biting, thumb-sucking, bed- wetting, nightmares, fear of dark, fear of
animals, etc. )
43? Time of earliest sex experience remembered
(W rite in: Childhood [1-6]; Prepuberty [7-12]; Adolescence [13-19]; Adult life [zo- ])
44? Natureofearliestsexexperienceremembered (Write in: e. g. , homosexual or heterosexual sex play; dates; kissing; heterosexual or homosexual intercourse, masturbation)
45? Source of early sex information (\Vrite in: e. g. , mother; father; male or female sib; other relative; other adult; books; the gang; etc. )
46. Little spontaneous comment 46. Considerable spontaneous com- ment
a. Quiet, shy, self-conscious
b. Adult-oriented, internalized standards. Read a lot; interest in school and teachers; achieve- ment striving
c. Isolated or sociable with few
? TABLE 4 (XI)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON ATTITUDE TOWARD CHILDHOOD SELF
FOR 80 SUBJECTS SCORING EXTREMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE ETIINIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
Interview rating categories Sex (abbreviated from Manual)
40.
Traits ascribed to childhood self:
aM. Unmanageable, d i f f i c u l t ( H ) v s . Men quiet, shy(L)
aw. Difficult child(H) vs. quiet, Women shy, or tomboy; independent(L)
b. Bland childhood(H) v~ adult- Men
Number of "High" (H~ and "Low" (L) ratings received by
Sums of instances Level of statistical
"positive" "negative" significance reached
oriented internalized standards(L)
41. Discontinuity(H) vs. con- tinuity(L) between childhood self and now
46. Little(H) vs. considerable (L) spontaneous comment
Women
Men Women
Men Women
7
16 1!
13
! . Q
13 5
4 1 9 5
24 8 2 20 6 2
20 men and 25 women "high scorers" H L
10 l 95
. i 7 65
3 8
11 4 10 5
20 men and 15 women
"low scorers" H L
(percentage)
3 ? . . 16 4 2 116 7
1
0
1 1
4
1
1. ? _ 20 8 5
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 437
Table 4(XI) presents the quantitative results of the analysis of the inter- views. Categories 42 to 45 have been omitted from consideration since we gained the impression that there was a certain reluctance on the part of some subjects to talk freely about the topics concerned.
2. "DIFFICUL T" CHILD
There [s a tendency, though not a statistically significant one, for both high-scoring men and women to report more frequently than low scorers that they were "difficult" as children. Among the male interviewees, IO high scorers as contrasted with only r low scorer describe themselves as unman- ageable, difficult, stubborn, aggressive, spoiled and/or sensitive in childhood (Category 4oa. M).
Aside from the possibility of this having actually been the case, it seems that some of the high-scoring subjects may seek in this way to justify the harsh discipline exerted by their parents by taking the blame themselves for any clashes that may have occurred. A further motive for this type of de- scription may be the wish, known to be present in high-scoring men (see above, Chapter VII, to conceive of oneself as possessing ''rugged mascu- linity. " The following examples from the records of high-scoring men seem to support both of the latter alternatives offered here as explanations.
M4o: (What were you like as a child? ) "Rowdy, I guess. Typical fresh Irish kid. . . . Snot-nosed, they used to call it. (Q) Oh, steal Joe Blow's apples (and similar pranks). If there was any trouble, I was in it. (Q) Oh, just a kid-I mean, nothing serious. "
M2o: "I had a pretty mean streak in me, especially around ten, pretty mis- chievous. My grandparents tried to hold me back. See that I'd play with the right kind of children. When I was around 12, I began to be pretty snotty to them and run around any time I wanted to. Sometimes I didn't do my work. At times, I'd feel ashamed of myself. . . . Makes me feel bad now. . . . (Q) No money. I couldn't run around much without money. Always tried to make it some way. . . . Three or four of us ran around together. Pretty snotty. . . . Maybe they tried to hold me down too much when I was younger. Wouldn't let me play, only with certain children. "
There is a corresponding though less pronounced trend in high-scoring women; they report that as children they were difficult, nervous, frail (Cate- gory 4oa. W). . Examples are:
F22: ''All I can remember is that mother said I was very fussy and finicky espe- cially about what I ate. "
F31: "I used to cry all the time. I don't know why, but people hurt my feelings. My brother took that out of me. I fought with him, and it got to the point where I could dish it out. "
F66: "I cried an awful lot when he died. Mother says I cried and ran out of rooms for years after he died because I didn't like to see her with any other man. She says I ruined her chances. "
Low-scoring subjects, on the other hand, show a tendency to describe
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
themselves as quiet, shy, self-conscious, or as unpopular in childhood. Low- scoring women, furthermore, relate somewhat more readily than do the high- scoring to have been "tomboys" and independent as children (Category 4oa, continued). Examples from the records of low-scoring subjects follow:
M48: (What sort of a person were you? ) "Hard for me to say-you mean, was I quiet? Well, would like to have been noisier, was always somewhat repressed by the other kids . . . shunned by (the leading cliques in school) . . . though I finally got in with my own gang about my own level. . . . "
M53: (What sort of person were you? ) "Hard to evaluate. . . . I think I was fairly quiet. . . . I was supposed to be pretty well behaved. Don't think I was remarkable in any respect. "
Mss: "Timid about dancing, afraid to dance; afraid to go out for sports for fear of being not a good player. " ?
F27 "I was an awful drip really. I was a very unhappy child. I think it was be- cause I was so fat. And I was abnormally shy. It used to make me mad when teachers would point me out as a model child for being so quiet. I knew I was only quiet because I was scared of everybody there. At home I was a noisy madcap. Of course, at home I was the center of the stage. Everyone thought I was wonderful. At school I guess I didn't feel appreciated. I knew I was very superior intellectually and was sort of a snob about that-but I didn't really care about that. I wanted to be liked and nobody liked me. So I just hurried home. All through grammar school I only had two friends-both girls. I never knew a boy well enough to really talk to. I guess those girls must have really tried to be friends with me because I never could have made any effort. "
Floyd Allport and D. A. Hartmann (8) found similar results when they administered a scale to measure political attitudes as well as several personal- ity schedules. They found that the liberals-to use our terminology-ex- ceeded the conservatives in "tender-mindedness," awareness of inner motives and conflicts, touchiness in personal matters, sensitiveness to the opinions of others, and a retiring nature. They are less expansive and self-assertive.
3. BLANDNESS VS. ADULT-ORIENTATION
It was assumed, in line with their general tendency toward denial and toward reluctance to face difficulties, that high-scoring subjects would be inclined further to describe their childhood as bland, happy, active, and without worries or shyness (Category 4ob). W e were aware of the fact that this assumption is in apparent contradiction to the trend just referred to, namely that high scorers lean toward describing themselves as having been difficult children. However, it is quite common to find denial of difficulties in such subjects side by side with revelation of difficulties. In descriptions of the childhood self there seem to be on the whole fewer manifestations of denial than in any other field with which we have dealt so far. This might be due to the fact that childhood is a possible projection screen for undesirable traits, offering another possibility of rendering these traits "ego-alien. " Obvi- ously, there is comparatively little necessity to glorify one's childhood, a period so far away in time. On the contrary, some of our high-scoring sub-
? SEX, PEOPLE, AND SELF SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 439
jects seem to find satisfaction in stressing handicaps, such as bad constitution, as something they had to overcome, thus making their success appear the more impressive.
Another aspect of childhood (referred to in the opposite variant of Cate- gory 4ob) is found with considerable frequency in the reports of low-scoring subjects. It may be summarized as orientation toward the adult and the espousal of internalized standards, as manifested in reading a lot, an interest in school and teachers, and in achievement striving. This trend is especially typical of the group of low-scoring men, in which 16 interviewees give a picture of themselves as having been adult-oriented in childhood, as com- pared with only I high-scoring man who does so. In women the correspond- ing figures are 7 and o.
This picture is substantiated in the direct study by the present author, referred to above (30), of children scoring low on a prejudice scale espe- cially designed for them. Though such children show less submission to authority, they tend to be genuinely more oriented toward adult values, such as interest in work.
Examples from both low-scoring men and women follow:
M53: (Especially remarkable? ) "I don't know. I don't think so. I was a pretty good student in school. Seemed to have a lot of friends. I don't remember any out- standing disappointments. (Worries as a child? ) Oh, let's see, that's difficult. I don't know. I can't remember any recurring worries as a child. (What about little things? ) Well, let me think. Shortly after my father's death, I worried about that for a while. Growing up without a father. . . . In high school I think I worried a lot about future occupation and how to earn a living. "
Ms6: (What were you like as a child? ) "Oh, very serious . . . read Rippants' 'His- tory of the World' at nine. My grandfather, when I was nine or ten, gave me Wash- ington Irving's 'Conquest of Granada,' which meant a great deal to me-gave me a sense of objectivity in history . . . he sometimes gave me temperance books. "
F27: "I was reading Dickens and Thackeray when other children were on Brer Rabbit, and knew all about the symphonies and operas while they were on nursery rhymes. "
Along the same line is a certain tendency on the part of the low-scoring subjects to report relative isolation in childhood, while high scorers refer to what may be defined as gang-sociability (Category 4oc), including such aspects as popularity and the holding of offices in clubs and high school fraternities and sororities. No figures for this trend are given in Table 4(XI), but examples from records of low-scoring subjects describing shyness and relative isolation in childhood are given here:
Msg: (What were you like as a child? ) "Always shy and when I was around a large group it was quite a while before I would enter into the spirit of things. "
F27: "I knew I was quiet because I was scared of everybody there. . . . I wanted to be liked and nobody liked me. So I just hurried home. "
F75: "In a way we are all alike in our family-shy and afraid of people. W e don't discuss it but I have noticed it in all of us, even my sister who doesn't act like it often.
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
44?
My mother has always pushed us and wanted us to be different-go-getters-but she isn't. I was the worst-the sort who would cross the street rather than say hello to a friend. . . . I remember wishing my mother would leave me alone to do what I wanted. That would have been bad though. I guess, because I would have grown up a hermit. Even now, I prefer to curl up with a book or go for a walk by myself. "
M49: "Well, when we were small, we spent all the time we possibly could out-of- doors, and when we came out here, we never associated with . . . never had any con- tact with other children outside of school time (worked, helping at home) . . . just
played together at home. . . . Neither of us ever went out for any sports .
