She is often unable to keep
anything
on her stomach for days at a time.
Adorno-T-Authoritarian-Personality-Harper-Bros-1950
e.
, with Christian Science).
.
.
.
(What kind of things do you pray about?
) I don't.
.
.
.
I ask whatever power there is to guide me-whether that power is divine mind or mortal mind-and I know that I'll be guided rightly.
"
M57: "Well, I believe . . . there must be a power over us. . . . Always know if a man does something wrong, sooner or later he'll get punished for it, so there must be some power to punish us. . . . "
The orientation toward inner standards can be seen in the following rec- ords of low scorers:
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 455
M42: (Views? ) "Well, I think it's silly. (Laughs) Not silly, I wouldn't say that either. . . . I think they're ignorant people . . . have to be scared into the right kind of living . . . by fear of Hell . . . but I think a man can have his own religion without ever seeing a church . . . the Golden Rule . . . I think people feel that in themselves, but they're not changed by churches, etc. . . . I think religion, as the churches teach it, (is useless). "
M53: "Impulses suggest that you've given it some thought . . . and if you've given it some thought, you're going to control it, if you have any sense at all. . . . I don't think I have any desires that I have any difficulty in controlling. "
F75: "About sex-it wasn't discussed. I don't know how we did find out. From friends I guess before we went into training and really learned. I think people should have standards within which they can give themselves leeway. If you don't have for yourself there is nothing to guide you. But it's just as bad to have them so rigid you can't break with them when you feel it is all right for yourself to do so. "
The crucial difference between externalization and internalization of moral values has been discussed repeatedly and in various contexts throughout this volume. It may suffice to recall here the self-negating, fearful submission to the parents on the part of the ethnocentric subjects as described in Chapter X. The type of discipline used seems to prevent a genuine incorporation and assimilation of social values. The child had to renounce instinctual and other pleasures for an exchange of love which was given him only sparingly, in- consistently, and conditionally. Since the moral requirements must have appeared to the child overwhelming and unintelligible and the reward small, submission to them had to be reinforced by fear of, and pressure from,
external agencies. This need for permanent reinforcement persisted, to become a constant state of affairs in the adult.
According to psychoanalytic theory, the development of ethical prin~ ciples normally proceeds from outside values, as first represented by stand- ards upheld by adults, to an internalization of these values. High scorers, due apparently to lack of genuine identification with the parents, do not succeed in making the important developmental step from mere "social anxiety" to real conscience: Fear of punishment by external authorities rather than self- chosen and ego-assimilated principles continue to be the primary deter- minant of their behavior. At the same time there is resentment against these authorities which are mainly experienced as restricting and punishing. Readi- ness to exchange these authorities mainly in the direction of a better bargain is one of the consequences of these attitudes. The preferred authority is the one who promises most in terms of material goods and backing to some release from restrictions which seem intolerable. Such persons have a long- ing to overthrow the troublesome moral restraints and to live fully according to the pleasure principle. The repressed, unsublimated, and unmodified tend- encies are ready to break through and to flood the tenuously maintained social superstructure.
In contrast to the psychopath, the typical high scorer remains dependent
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
on the blessing given by external authority. This makes for his accessibility to being manipulated by social forces, primarily those which give license for aggression, although he always stays potentially within reach of the more positively productive influences also, if they are powerful.
The internalization of the superego by the typical low scorer makes for more judicious and responsible citizenship in private and in public life. A certain proportion of the low scorers, however, tend to develop a harsh and irrational superego, with an effect not altogether dissimilar from the punitiveness and moral indignation frequent in high scorers, the difference being that the resulting guilt-feelings tend to be more conscious in the low scorers. Only very few of our subjects-all of them low scorers-seem to have succeeded in avoiding the "impasse" between an unduly severe super- ego, on the one hand, and an underdeveloped one, on the other.
Nonacceptance and repression of id-tendencies which have been ren- dered ego-alien, as found significantly more often in high-scoring subjects (Category 54), may be assumed to be the result of fearful submission to external authority. Under such conditions sex and aggression, not being integrated with the rest of the personality, continue to lead an independent existence. Although repressed, they tend to "break through" occasionally in
an uncontrolled way.
Low scorers, on the other hand, tend significantly more often toward
accepting and sublimating their id-tendencies (Category 54, continued). A greater ability for integrating and expressing aggression, for a successful fusion of sex and affection, for "love" in general, and for creative work seem to be among the many consequences of a not-too-drastic repression of in- stinctual tendencies as discussed before in this volume. Examples were given primarily in the section dealing with the attitude toward sex.
8. STRENGTH OF THE EGO
Since low scorers often tend toward a more successful integration of the various aspects of their personality, they tend to remain less immature and less infantile. They thus turn out to have more capacity for sustained effort, more ability to postpone pleasure for the sake of internalized values, more ability to assume responsibility, and more emotional maturity. The absence vs. presence of any or all of these characteristics may be summarized as a "weak" vs. a "strong" ego. Since it was not expected that low scorers would tend to exhibit superlative ego strength, Category 55 contrasts a weak
ego with an ego of either moderate or great strength. As anticipated, the latter alternatives were found predominantly in low scorers, the first pre- dominantly in high scorers, the differences between the two groups reach- ing the 5 per cent level of significance in both men and women. The fact that low scorers manifest relative strength of the rational tendencies as compared with the irrational may well be due to their attempt to master and
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 457
sublimate rather than to? escape the unconscious. Thus the low scorers' adaptation to reality is more flexible in spite of the more open conflict and anxiety which accompanies the greater awareness of existing problems.
This greater awareness, integration and, therefore, control of impulses is exemplified by the following record, quoted above, of a low-scoring subject:
M53: Subject questions the meaning of desires and impulses. "Impulses suggest that you've given it some thought . . . and if you've given it some thought, you're going to control it, if you have any sense at all. . . . I dont think I have any desires that I have any difficulty in controlling. "
On the other hand, instinctual impulses are experienced as something overpowering and evil by the typical high-scoring subject. Repression of certain deeper tendencies on the part of the typical high scorer does not lessen their potential force. On the contrary, these frequently tend to find "projective" and other devious outlets. Excessive repression and counter- cathexis of unacceptable impulses requires inordinate expenditures of energy. This in turn contributes to the weakening of the ego, increasing the danger of a break-through of some of the repressed tendencies.
In spite of these over-all results, a certain type of ego-strength, that con- nected with the tenacious pursuit of success, is a frequent characteristic of the high scorer. On the other hand, low scorers sometimes dissipate their energies in internal conflicts or daydreaming. The Interview Scoring Manual concentrates on certain aspects of ego-strength; more detailed considera- ? tion of such further aspects as energy and determination in overt action may yield a somewhat different picture or even reveal a trend in the opposite direction than that noted in the preceding paragraphs (see also Chapter XI).
9. DISTORTION OF REALITY
One of the outlets for repressed instinctual tendencies is distortion of out- side reality, as contrasted with a realistic and objective evaluation of reality (Category 56a). The difference between high- and low-scoring interviewees along this dimension is significant at the 5 per cent level for women, and there is a numerically similar trend-1 8 positive as against 7 negative instances -for men. (This, however, misses statistical significance due to the some- what different proportion of interviewees in the two extreme groups as shown in the top portion of Table 1(XII)). In those parts of the interview that deal with political and social issues-omitted from the records as handed to the raters-this difference is more striking. It is there that we see most clearly the distortion of social reality, a reality which seems to serve primarily as a projection screen for repressed needs whenever repression transcends
certain limits.
Less drastic but still apparent is the distortion manifested in the high
scorers' evaluation of other people and of themselves; There also seems to be
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
a paradoxical connection between distortion of reality and overrealism in the high scorer: The distortion in the conception of other people is built into the framework of an anxiety-ridden, overrealistic idea of a bitter, competitive struggle.
Awareness of the difficulties in judging distortion of reality of such con- troversial issues as the evaluation of social groups and social events led the author of this chapter to a series of experiments in children on perception and related cognitive problems which were to test distortion on a more neutral ground. Preliminary results indicate that there is more distortion of memory material and of perceptual stimuli in ethnically prejudiced than there is in ethnically unprejudiced children (see 37 and forthcoming reports).
Another expression of repression, this time primarily of sex and aggression, is authoritarian moralism (Category 56b). By this is meant a moral indigna- tion about manifestations of what is considered improper behavior especially when it occurs in persons considered socially inferior. This mechanism gives opportunity both for the release of aggression toward someone who cannot very well retaliate, and for projecting repressed sexual needs onto an "alien" group. Since this mechanism, of which ethnic prejudice is but a part, is wide- spread and socially accepted, a kind of pseudoreality is thus constructed which helps to keep the individual unaware of his distortions.
The fact that the difference between high scorers and low scorers with respect to an authoritarian moralism is statistically highly significant is of course not to be construed as indicating that low scorers tend to have a fully integrated personality without undue repressions. In the preceding chapters the repressions and conflicts characteristic of the low scorers have been pointed out in some detail. But instead of crudely projecting these tendencies onto outgroups, low scorers seem to tend toward what may be called intel- lectualization (not necessarily intellectual penetration) of their conflicts (Category 56b, continued). That is to say, they make a serious attempt at understanding what is going on in themselves by thinking about it and thus getting some clarification and integration, a procedure that may or may not be entirely successful. Their approach in general tends to be cognitively less diffuse and more structured than that of the high scorers.
The further mechanism of denial of "negative" things in oneself, pre- dominant in high scorers, is clearly related to what has just been discussed, in the context of repression, as well as repeatedly pointed out elsewhere in this volume. The responsibility for that which is considered bad is shifted away from the subject and from the ingroup in general. The contrasting variant, completing Category 56c, is described as open psychological con- flict concerning one's own adequacy, maturity, or the violation of liberal values by oneself. It is significantly more often (1 per cent level) found in the low scorers.
Examples from the interview records illustfllting the denial of negative
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 459
traits, often manifested in a general, "official" optimism, have been quoted above (Chapter XI); a few further examples, again from the records of subjects scoring extremely high on the Ethnocentrism questionnaire, are:
MJI: He does not feel that he has any serious problem except a tendency to get very drunk when discouraged, which he thinks he has conquered, pointing out that his recent drunkenness was purely a good-natured relaxation while he played juke boxes and had a pleasant evening before going to the hospital and that he wasn't arrested for that, but for being struck on the head.
M57: Though he expressed the superficial desire to understand why he had gotten in so much trouble when his brothers have not, and to straighten out, he spontane- ously denied "that there is anything the matter with me. " He also sought the inter- viewer's reassurance "that there is nothing the matter with me. "
Admission of difficulties by low-scoring subjects is illustrated by the fol- lowing quotations:
M16: During the interview he referred to himself wistfully "I guess I am a mature person now-or maybe not, otherwise I wouldn't be coming here," and "I guess I am a neurotic. . . . Well, that's just my trouble, I'm not at all aggressive. That's why I'm coming here. . . . I have reached a block in my work-something is hanging over me -always nervous-the sex problem. "
M49: (What worry about most? ) "Well, I think social contact bothers me most. I could always talk with one person, but where there are several persons, I'll just stand there and not say 'boo. ' . . . Yeah, that's been one of my main problems. . . . I started here once in General Curriculum, and then stopped. I couldn't see any sense in going any further if I didn't know what I wanted to take. "
10. PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
The assumption that further manifestations of the repression tendencies typical of high scorers would be found in the more frequent occurrence of certain physical symptoms, as a type of "projection onto the body," did not materialize to a statistically significant degree although there is a trend in this direction (see below). The absence of clear-cut results in this respect may be due to the very high number of "Neutrals" (small total of H and L ratings) on the categories concerned, 56d and 56f. l This in turn may have been occasioned by our refraining from making a special inquiry concerning this point, or else by the fact that these symptoms are not general enough. Or, perhaps, both high and low scorers tend to use this mechanism to about the same extent.
More evidence concerning these alternatives might be obtained by further scrutinizing the available data. Six high-scoring but none of the low-scoring women show particular concern with physical symptoms (Category 56d). Similarly, 7 high-scoring and 3 low-scoring men show this concern. Further- more, 7 high-scoring and 3 low-scoring women reported what amounts to
1 Significant differences were found in a group of psychiatric clinic patients (see Chap- ter XXII).
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
hysterical conversions (Category 56f). However, the corresponding differ- ence in men is altogether negligible (3 to 2). In a larger sample such dif- ferences might turn out to be significant, especially those for women.
Examples of concern with physical symptoms in high-scoring subjects follow. Whether and how much the complaints have a basis in reality is of course difficult to decide in the individual case; the fact remains that high scorers seem particularly inclined to dwell on their symptoms or disease records.
F71: Wouldn't like to be a nurse or M. D. -admires anyone who does, but "I hate hospitals. . . . I've been in so many; two mastoid operations and heart murmur. I have a great fear of doctors' offices. My heart has been giving me trouble so I go to the doctor for checkups but haven't really been sick. Now I'm full of energy but they think its nervous energy. I tire easily. I had scarlet fever when I was 10. "
F33: As a child subject had rickets. Later, the whole family with the exception of the mother came down with typhoid fever. Subject's sister caught it first, but it was not recognized at first and the doctor diagnosed it simply as a common cold, so that the subject was allowed to stay in the room with her and caught it from her as a result. In school the subject broke a leg. She suffers from severe menstrual cramps and menstruation has always been highly irregular. Her chief complaint, however, is a nervous stomach resulting in frequent stomach upsets with frightful nausea and vomiting.
She is often unable to keep anything on her stomach for days at a time. She has always had a somewhat delicate stomach, but her first severe upset occurred the day after she announced her engagement to be married. Since her marriage she has had frequent severe upsets, some of which have necessitated hospitalization and intravenous injections of glucose. Subject does not smoke or drink but states that she does not mind being in the company of people who do, provided their drinking is moderate. There has been no thumb-sucking, nail-biting, or bed-wetting but there were feeding difficulties in early childhood because she could not take milk.
Mz3: "He (father) hasn't worked for thirty years. At the time he worked, the wage was around $75 a month. He had stomach trouble. . . . I have had a lot of sick- ness, stomach trouble ever since I was 12. I was in the hospital once for three months. During those periods I like to turn to the Bible. . . . They found I was anemic at the age of 12. I had my first hemorrhage from the stomach when I was 18. It always comes when I start working too hard. . . . I found out that she wasn't interested in money, but was interested in me in spite of my discharge from the army, my poor health and possibilities. . . . She is a good cook, and that is an asset, what with my stomach condition. "
M45: "Always sick, always going to the doctor. (What was wrong with you? ) Well, I don't think they ever knew. "
Msz: "Wasn't it Emily Bronte who wrote so much, with tuberculosis? . . . It's not laziness (with the subject). " Subject goes on about his tuberculosis and its enervating effects upon him and the restriction which this places on what kind of work he can do, etc. (Are you an active tubercular? ) "I'm an arrested tubercular, inactive . . . still. . . . "
M45: "They thought it might be sugar diabetes. . . . In my childhood, something that held me back, my kidneys. . . . I wet the bed all the time, consequently couldn't visit other boys, etc. . . . Might have given me a kind of complex. . . . Though I couldn't help it. But I thought that other people might think that I could help it. . . . Finally stopped when I was about 12. "
Within the general framework of preoccupation with one's body there is
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 46I
also some tendency, especially in high-scoring women, to put exaggerated emphasis on physical appearance (Category 56e). As many as 8 high-scoring women and only I low-scoring woman spontaneously refer to this aspect when describing people (see Chapters X and XI). The difference is, how- ever, not significant, perhaps again due to the large number of "Neutrals. " For men there is no trend in the direction indicated; in fact, there is even a slight reversal.
B. COGNITIVE PERSONALITY ORGANIZA TION
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
The last subsection of our Scoring Manual refers to those of the more general factors in personality orientation which are of a more specifically cognitive, or perceptual, character. Some of their special forms have been discussed repeatedly in the chapters dealing with the clinical aspects of the interviews. As in the preceding sections of this chapter, discussion can there- fore again be brief and often will take the form of a summary.
The section of the Scoring Manual referring to cognitive factors follows:
INTERVIEW SCORING MANUAL: COGNITIVE PERSONALITY ORGANIZA TION
(to Table z(XII))
PRESUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTS
57? Rigid set and outlook; pre- 57?
conceived categorizations, in-
PRESUMABLY "Low" VARIANTS Flexible: more adaptable to ' changing circumstances, more open to rational argument Tolerant of ambiguity Scientific-naturalistic orienta- tion toward social and psycho- logical dynamics
accessible to new experience
58. Intolerant of ambiguity
59? Pseudoscientific or antiscien- 59?
tific; implicit denial of person- ality dynamics; ready explana- tion by accidental factors, he- redity, etc. ; superstition
6o. Anti-intraceptive
61. Suggestible, gullible
62. Autistic thinking in goal-be- 62.
havior; unrealistic view of means-end relationships
Autonomous
Realistic thinking m goal-be- havior
The quantitative results are shown in the usual manner in Table 2 (XII). 2. RIGIDITY
The first two categories, rigidity vs. flexibility (Category 57), and in- tolerance vs. tolerance of ambiguity (Category 58) cover related personality trends. Most subjects received the same rating on the two variables. Dif- ferentiation between low scorers and high scorers in the anticipated direction
58.
6o. lntraceptive
61.
? 57.
58.
59.
3 13 . ll 5
26 6 1
TABLE 2 (XII)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON COGNITIVE PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION
FUR 80 SUBJECTS S<XlRING EXTRFMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE ETHNIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
. . J:. 0\
. . . . .
Interview rating categories (abbreviated from Manual)
~ 20 men and 25 women
"high scorers?
20 men and 15 women "low scorers"
H L
Sums of instances
"positive" "negative" reached or . . . ,
H
Men 18 Women 18
Men 16 Women 19
Pseudo- or anti-scientific(H)
vs. scientific-naturalistic(L) Women
L
2
4 2. ?
2 . 2 17 2 4 8
3 1 15 10 14
:II >
Rigid(H) vs. flexible(L)
Intolerant of ambiguity(H) vs. tolerant of ambiguity(L)
C! . . . ,
1 :II 0
~
60. Anti-intraceptive(H) vs. Men
intraceptive(L) WOmen ! ? 2
32 7 1
61. Suggestible, gullible(H) vs. autonomous(L)
62? Autism(H) vs. realism(L) in goal-behavior
Men ~ 2 Women 1 3
Men 13 5
Women 8 9 3 ! ! . . 19 12
Men 12
33 4
27 6 1
27 4 1 30 1 1
z>
"d
M
~
rJ)
0
z
>
I:"' . . . . . . . . . ,
~
Number o f "High"{H} and "Low" {L) ratings received by
ld~Yel o f statistical significance
16
16 4
3 16
1 14 32 3 1
2 11 28 4 1 1 ll 20 4 1
7 . . ! ! . 21 12
surpassed (percentage) M
1 . . . . .
. . . . .
. . . ,
>
~
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 463
is significant at the 1 per' cent level throughout. High scorers show more rigidity and avoidance of ambiguity; low scorers tend toward greater flexibil- ity and acceptance of ambiguity. The inability, on the part of typical high scorers, to face "ambivalence"-which is emotional ambiguity-has been dis- cussed previously, mainly in connection with their attitude toward parents and toward the other sex: in these and other areas hostile emotions were found to have been repressed and hidden behind a fac;ade of glorification. A rigid, and in most instances, conventionalized set of rules seems thus to deter- mine the conception the typical high scorer has of his own and of other people's behavior. Values and religion are often taken over in their most dogmatic form. Quotations cited in the previous chapter revealed these rigid
conceptions on the part of the high scorers in many a sphere of life.
On the other hand, the openness of conflicts and doubts in the case of low scorers likewise became obvious. Over and above the previous quotations the following records from the interviews of low-scoring subjects show their readiness to think over matters and to come to a solution through their
own thinking as well as their unwillingness to take over traditional and fixed concepts and ideals without scrutiny:
M42: He shows much philosophizing about the purpose of it all, involving much questioning of prevailing values about work, success, etc. But, on the other hand, he keeps pulling back and is overcome with doubt and indecision about these things. He emphasizes the basic importance of happiness and the emptiness of "success" without any personal satisfaction.
M44: His speech abounds in qualifying phrases and overintellectualization. He seems repeatedly unable to verbalize a generalization before he is overwhelmed by a rush of qualifications. Further, his thinking is rich in philosophizing, psychologiz- ing, and poetic statement. Moreover, these characteristics are not shallow but have much substance. ". . . Well, I don't think you should obey anyone or anything with- out question. I think it's man's unique function to question and when he ceases to question, he ceases to be man. (Have you ever had serious doubts about your re- ligious beliefs? ) Oh, not especially serious, I'd say, because I believe there should be changes. "
M48: "I'm what they always call an agnostic. Sounds sort of prosaic. . . . I'm skep- tical-though I believe Christ was a great man . . . persecuted. . . . "
M53: (How do you account for your growing away from the conventionalism of your background? ) "I don't know. It wasn't simply a change of locale. I think, probably, through reading. From 15 to 16 I did a lot of reading and became rather dissatisfied with it (i.
M57: "Well, I believe . . . there must be a power over us. . . . Always know if a man does something wrong, sooner or later he'll get punished for it, so there must be some power to punish us. . . . "
The orientation toward inner standards can be seen in the following rec- ords of low scorers:
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 455
M42: (Views? ) "Well, I think it's silly. (Laughs) Not silly, I wouldn't say that either. . . . I think they're ignorant people . . . have to be scared into the right kind of living . . . by fear of Hell . . . but I think a man can have his own religion without ever seeing a church . . . the Golden Rule . . . I think people feel that in themselves, but they're not changed by churches, etc. . . . I think religion, as the churches teach it, (is useless). "
M53: "Impulses suggest that you've given it some thought . . . and if you've given it some thought, you're going to control it, if you have any sense at all. . . . I don't think I have any desires that I have any difficulty in controlling. "
F75: "About sex-it wasn't discussed. I don't know how we did find out. From friends I guess before we went into training and really learned. I think people should have standards within which they can give themselves leeway. If you don't have for yourself there is nothing to guide you. But it's just as bad to have them so rigid you can't break with them when you feel it is all right for yourself to do so. "
The crucial difference between externalization and internalization of moral values has been discussed repeatedly and in various contexts throughout this volume. It may suffice to recall here the self-negating, fearful submission to the parents on the part of the ethnocentric subjects as described in Chapter X. The type of discipline used seems to prevent a genuine incorporation and assimilation of social values. The child had to renounce instinctual and other pleasures for an exchange of love which was given him only sparingly, in- consistently, and conditionally. Since the moral requirements must have appeared to the child overwhelming and unintelligible and the reward small, submission to them had to be reinforced by fear of, and pressure from,
external agencies. This need for permanent reinforcement persisted, to become a constant state of affairs in the adult.
According to psychoanalytic theory, the development of ethical prin~ ciples normally proceeds from outside values, as first represented by stand- ards upheld by adults, to an internalization of these values. High scorers, due apparently to lack of genuine identification with the parents, do not succeed in making the important developmental step from mere "social anxiety" to real conscience: Fear of punishment by external authorities rather than self- chosen and ego-assimilated principles continue to be the primary deter- minant of their behavior. At the same time there is resentment against these authorities which are mainly experienced as restricting and punishing. Readi- ness to exchange these authorities mainly in the direction of a better bargain is one of the consequences of these attitudes. The preferred authority is the one who promises most in terms of material goods and backing to some release from restrictions which seem intolerable. Such persons have a long- ing to overthrow the troublesome moral restraints and to live fully according to the pleasure principle. The repressed, unsublimated, and unmodified tend- encies are ready to break through and to flood the tenuously maintained social superstructure.
In contrast to the psychopath, the typical high scorer remains dependent
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
on the blessing given by external authority. This makes for his accessibility to being manipulated by social forces, primarily those which give license for aggression, although he always stays potentially within reach of the more positively productive influences also, if they are powerful.
The internalization of the superego by the typical low scorer makes for more judicious and responsible citizenship in private and in public life. A certain proportion of the low scorers, however, tend to develop a harsh and irrational superego, with an effect not altogether dissimilar from the punitiveness and moral indignation frequent in high scorers, the difference being that the resulting guilt-feelings tend to be more conscious in the low scorers. Only very few of our subjects-all of them low scorers-seem to have succeeded in avoiding the "impasse" between an unduly severe super- ego, on the one hand, and an underdeveloped one, on the other.
Nonacceptance and repression of id-tendencies which have been ren- dered ego-alien, as found significantly more often in high-scoring subjects (Category 54), may be assumed to be the result of fearful submission to external authority. Under such conditions sex and aggression, not being integrated with the rest of the personality, continue to lead an independent existence. Although repressed, they tend to "break through" occasionally in
an uncontrolled way.
Low scorers, on the other hand, tend significantly more often toward
accepting and sublimating their id-tendencies (Category 54, continued). A greater ability for integrating and expressing aggression, for a successful fusion of sex and affection, for "love" in general, and for creative work seem to be among the many consequences of a not-too-drastic repression of in- stinctual tendencies as discussed before in this volume. Examples were given primarily in the section dealing with the attitude toward sex.
8. STRENGTH OF THE EGO
Since low scorers often tend toward a more successful integration of the various aspects of their personality, they tend to remain less immature and less infantile. They thus turn out to have more capacity for sustained effort, more ability to postpone pleasure for the sake of internalized values, more ability to assume responsibility, and more emotional maturity. The absence vs. presence of any or all of these characteristics may be summarized as a "weak" vs. a "strong" ego. Since it was not expected that low scorers would tend to exhibit superlative ego strength, Category 55 contrasts a weak
ego with an ego of either moderate or great strength. As anticipated, the latter alternatives were found predominantly in low scorers, the first pre- dominantly in high scorers, the differences between the two groups reach- ing the 5 per cent level of significance in both men and women. The fact that low scorers manifest relative strength of the rational tendencies as compared with the irrational may well be due to their attempt to master and
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 457
sublimate rather than to? escape the unconscious. Thus the low scorers' adaptation to reality is more flexible in spite of the more open conflict and anxiety which accompanies the greater awareness of existing problems.
This greater awareness, integration and, therefore, control of impulses is exemplified by the following record, quoted above, of a low-scoring subject:
M53: Subject questions the meaning of desires and impulses. "Impulses suggest that you've given it some thought . . . and if you've given it some thought, you're going to control it, if you have any sense at all. . . . I dont think I have any desires that I have any difficulty in controlling. "
On the other hand, instinctual impulses are experienced as something overpowering and evil by the typical high-scoring subject. Repression of certain deeper tendencies on the part of the typical high scorer does not lessen their potential force. On the contrary, these frequently tend to find "projective" and other devious outlets. Excessive repression and counter- cathexis of unacceptable impulses requires inordinate expenditures of energy. This in turn contributes to the weakening of the ego, increasing the danger of a break-through of some of the repressed tendencies.
In spite of these over-all results, a certain type of ego-strength, that con- nected with the tenacious pursuit of success, is a frequent characteristic of the high scorer. On the other hand, low scorers sometimes dissipate their energies in internal conflicts or daydreaming. The Interview Scoring Manual concentrates on certain aspects of ego-strength; more detailed considera- ? tion of such further aspects as energy and determination in overt action may yield a somewhat different picture or even reveal a trend in the opposite direction than that noted in the preceding paragraphs (see also Chapter XI).
9. DISTORTION OF REALITY
One of the outlets for repressed instinctual tendencies is distortion of out- side reality, as contrasted with a realistic and objective evaluation of reality (Category 56a). The difference between high- and low-scoring interviewees along this dimension is significant at the 5 per cent level for women, and there is a numerically similar trend-1 8 positive as against 7 negative instances -for men. (This, however, misses statistical significance due to the some- what different proportion of interviewees in the two extreme groups as shown in the top portion of Table 1(XII)). In those parts of the interview that deal with political and social issues-omitted from the records as handed to the raters-this difference is more striking. It is there that we see most clearly the distortion of social reality, a reality which seems to serve primarily as a projection screen for repressed needs whenever repression transcends
certain limits.
Less drastic but still apparent is the distortion manifested in the high
scorers' evaluation of other people and of themselves; There also seems to be
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
a paradoxical connection between distortion of reality and overrealism in the high scorer: The distortion in the conception of other people is built into the framework of an anxiety-ridden, overrealistic idea of a bitter, competitive struggle.
Awareness of the difficulties in judging distortion of reality of such con- troversial issues as the evaluation of social groups and social events led the author of this chapter to a series of experiments in children on perception and related cognitive problems which were to test distortion on a more neutral ground. Preliminary results indicate that there is more distortion of memory material and of perceptual stimuli in ethnically prejudiced than there is in ethnically unprejudiced children (see 37 and forthcoming reports).
Another expression of repression, this time primarily of sex and aggression, is authoritarian moralism (Category 56b). By this is meant a moral indigna- tion about manifestations of what is considered improper behavior especially when it occurs in persons considered socially inferior. This mechanism gives opportunity both for the release of aggression toward someone who cannot very well retaliate, and for projecting repressed sexual needs onto an "alien" group. Since this mechanism, of which ethnic prejudice is but a part, is wide- spread and socially accepted, a kind of pseudoreality is thus constructed which helps to keep the individual unaware of his distortions.
The fact that the difference between high scorers and low scorers with respect to an authoritarian moralism is statistically highly significant is of course not to be construed as indicating that low scorers tend to have a fully integrated personality without undue repressions. In the preceding chapters the repressions and conflicts characteristic of the low scorers have been pointed out in some detail. But instead of crudely projecting these tendencies onto outgroups, low scorers seem to tend toward what may be called intel- lectualization (not necessarily intellectual penetration) of their conflicts (Category 56b, continued). That is to say, they make a serious attempt at understanding what is going on in themselves by thinking about it and thus getting some clarification and integration, a procedure that may or may not be entirely successful. Their approach in general tends to be cognitively less diffuse and more structured than that of the high scorers.
The further mechanism of denial of "negative" things in oneself, pre- dominant in high scorers, is clearly related to what has just been discussed, in the context of repression, as well as repeatedly pointed out elsewhere in this volume. The responsibility for that which is considered bad is shifted away from the subject and from the ingroup in general. The contrasting variant, completing Category 56c, is described as open psychological con- flict concerning one's own adequacy, maturity, or the violation of liberal values by oneself. It is significantly more often (1 per cent level) found in the low scorers.
Examples from the interview records illustfllting the denial of negative
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 459
traits, often manifested in a general, "official" optimism, have been quoted above (Chapter XI); a few further examples, again from the records of subjects scoring extremely high on the Ethnocentrism questionnaire, are:
MJI: He does not feel that he has any serious problem except a tendency to get very drunk when discouraged, which he thinks he has conquered, pointing out that his recent drunkenness was purely a good-natured relaxation while he played juke boxes and had a pleasant evening before going to the hospital and that he wasn't arrested for that, but for being struck on the head.
M57: Though he expressed the superficial desire to understand why he had gotten in so much trouble when his brothers have not, and to straighten out, he spontane- ously denied "that there is anything the matter with me. " He also sought the inter- viewer's reassurance "that there is nothing the matter with me. "
Admission of difficulties by low-scoring subjects is illustrated by the fol- lowing quotations:
M16: During the interview he referred to himself wistfully "I guess I am a mature person now-or maybe not, otherwise I wouldn't be coming here," and "I guess I am a neurotic. . . . Well, that's just my trouble, I'm not at all aggressive. That's why I'm coming here. . . . I have reached a block in my work-something is hanging over me -always nervous-the sex problem. "
M49: (What worry about most? ) "Well, I think social contact bothers me most. I could always talk with one person, but where there are several persons, I'll just stand there and not say 'boo. ' . . . Yeah, that's been one of my main problems. . . . I started here once in General Curriculum, and then stopped. I couldn't see any sense in going any further if I didn't know what I wanted to take. "
10. PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
The assumption that further manifestations of the repression tendencies typical of high scorers would be found in the more frequent occurrence of certain physical symptoms, as a type of "projection onto the body," did not materialize to a statistically significant degree although there is a trend in this direction (see below). The absence of clear-cut results in this respect may be due to the very high number of "Neutrals" (small total of H and L ratings) on the categories concerned, 56d and 56f. l This in turn may have been occasioned by our refraining from making a special inquiry concerning this point, or else by the fact that these symptoms are not general enough. Or, perhaps, both high and low scorers tend to use this mechanism to about the same extent.
More evidence concerning these alternatives might be obtained by further scrutinizing the available data. Six high-scoring but none of the low-scoring women show particular concern with physical symptoms (Category 56d). Similarly, 7 high-scoring and 3 low-scoring men show this concern. Further- more, 7 high-scoring and 3 low-scoring women reported what amounts to
1 Significant differences were found in a group of psychiatric clinic patients (see Chap- ter XXII).
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
hysterical conversions (Category 56f). However, the corresponding differ- ence in men is altogether negligible (3 to 2). In a larger sample such dif- ferences might turn out to be significant, especially those for women.
Examples of concern with physical symptoms in high-scoring subjects follow. Whether and how much the complaints have a basis in reality is of course difficult to decide in the individual case; the fact remains that high scorers seem particularly inclined to dwell on their symptoms or disease records.
F71: Wouldn't like to be a nurse or M. D. -admires anyone who does, but "I hate hospitals. . . . I've been in so many; two mastoid operations and heart murmur. I have a great fear of doctors' offices. My heart has been giving me trouble so I go to the doctor for checkups but haven't really been sick. Now I'm full of energy but they think its nervous energy. I tire easily. I had scarlet fever when I was 10. "
F33: As a child subject had rickets. Later, the whole family with the exception of the mother came down with typhoid fever. Subject's sister caught it first, but it was not recognized at first and the doctor diagnosed it simply as a common cold, so that the subject was allowed to stay in the room with her and caught it from her as a result. In school the subject broke a leg. She suffers from severe menstrual cramps and menstruation has always been highly irregular. Her chief complaint, however, is a nervous stomach resulting in frequent stomach upsets with frightful nausea and vomiting.
She is often unable to keep anything on her stomach for days at a time. She has always had a somewhat delicate stomach, but her first severe upset occurred the day after she announced her engagement to be married. Since her marriage she has had frequent severe upsets, some of which have necessitated hospitalization and intravenous injections of glucose. Subject does not smoke or drink but states that she does not mind being in the company of people who do, provided their drinking is moderate. There has been no thumb-sucking, nail-biting, or bed-wetting but there were feeding difficulties in early childhood because she could not take milk.
Mz3: "He (father) hasn't worked for thirty years. At the time he worked, the wage was around $75 a month. He had stomach trouble. . . . I have had a lot of sick- ness, stomach trouble ever since I was 12. I was in the hospital once for three months. During those periods I like to turn to the Bible. . . . They found I was anemic at the age of 12. I had my first hemorrhage from the stomach when I was 18. It always comes when I start working too hard. . . . I found out that she wasn't interested in money, but was interested in me in spite of my discharge from the army, my poor health and possibilities. . . . She is a good cook, and that is an asset, what with my stomach condition. "
M45: "Always sick, always going to the doctor. (What was wrong with you? ) Well, I don't think they ever knew. "
Msz: "Wasn't it Emily Bronte who wrote so much, with tuberculosis? . . . It's not laziness (with the subject). " Subject goes on about his tuberculosis and its enervating effects upon him and the restriction which this places on what kind of work he can do, etc. (Are you an active tubercular? ) "I'm an arrested tubercular, inactive . . . still. . . . "
M45: "They thought it might be sugar diabetes. . . . In my childhood, something that held me back, my kidneys. . . . I wet the bed all the time, consequently couldn't visit other boys, etc. . . . Might have given me a kind of complex. . . . Though I couldn't help it. But I thought that other people might think that I could help it. . . . Finally stopped when I was about 12. "
Within the general framework of preoccupation with one's body there is
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 46I
also some tendency, especially in high-scoring women, to put exaggerated emphasis on physical appearance (Category 56e). As many as 8 high-scoring women and only I low-scoring woman spontaneously refer to this aspect when describing people (see Chapters X and XI). The difference is, how- ever, not significant, perhaps again due to the large number of "Neutrals. " For men there is no trend in the direction indicated; in fact, there is even a slight reversal.
B. COGNITIVE PERSONALITY ORGANIZA TION
1. DEFINITION OF RA TING CA TEGORIES AND QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
The last subsection of our Scoring Manual refers to those of the more general factors in personality orientation which are of a more specifically cognitive, or perceptual, character. Some of their special forms have been discussed repeatedly in the chapters dealing with the clinical aspects of the interviews. As in the preceding sections of this chapter, discussion can there- fore again be brief and often will take the form of a summary.
The section of the Scoring Manual referring to cognitive factors follows:
INTERVIEW SCORING MANUAL: COGNITIVE PERSONALITY ORGANIZA TION
(to Table z(XII))
PRESUMABLY "HIGH" VARIANTS
57? Rigid set and outlook; pre- 57?
conceived categorizations, in-
PRESUMABLY "Low" VARIANTS Flexible: more adaptable to ' changing circumstances, more open to rational argument Tolerant of ambiguity Scientific-naturalistic orienta- tion toward social and psycho- logical dynamics
accessible to new experience
58. Intolerant of ambiguity
59? Pseudoscientific or antiscien- 59?
tific; implicit denial of person- ality dynamics; ready explana- tion by accidental factors, he- redity, etc. ; superstition
6o. Anti-intraceptive
61. Suggestible, gullible
62. Autistic thinking in goal-be- 62.
havior; unrealistic view of means-end relationships
Autonomous
Realistic thinking m goal-be- havior
The quantitative results are shown in the usual manner in Table 2 (XII). 2. RIGIDITY
The first two categories, rigidity vs. flexibility (Category 57), and in- tolerance vs. tolerance of ambiguity (Category 58) cover related personality trends. Most subjects received the same rating on the two variables. Dif- ferentiation between low scorers and high scorers in the anticipated direction
58.
6o. lntraceptive
61.
? 57.
58.
59.
3 13 . ll 5
26 6 1
TABLE 2 (XII)
INTERVIEW RATINGS ON COGNITIVE PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION
FUR 80 SUBJECTS S<XlRING EXTRFMELY "HIGH" OR "LOW" ON THE ETHNIC PREJUDICE QUESTIONNAIRE SCALE
. . J:. 0\
. . . . .
Interview rating categories (abbreviated from Manual)
~ 20 men and 25 women
"high scorers?
20 men and 15 women "low scorers"
H L
Sums of instances
"positive" "negative" reached or . . . ,
H
Men 18 Women 18
Men 16 Women 19
Pseudo- or anti-scientific(H)
vs. scientific-naturalistic(L) Women
L
2
4 2. ?
2 . 2 17 2 4 8
3 1 15 10 14
:II >
Rigid(H) vs. flexible(L)
Intolerant of ambiguity(H) vs. tolerant of ambiguity(L)
C! . . . ,
1 :II 0
~
60. Anti-intraceptive(H) vs. Men
intraceptive(L) WOmen ! ? 2
32 7 1
61. Suggestible, gullible(H) vs. autonomous(L)
62? Autism(H) vs. realism(L) in goal-behavior
Men ~ 2 Women 1 3
Men 13 5
Women 8 9 3 ! ! . . 19 12
Men 12
33 4
27 6 1
27 4 1 30 1 1
z>
"d
M
~
rJ)
0
z
>
I:"' . . . . . . . . . ,
~
Number o f "High"{H} and "Low" {L) ratings received by
ld~Yel o f statistical significance
16
16 4
3 16
1 14 32 3 1
2 11 28 4 1 1 ll 20 4 1
7 . . ! ! . 21 12
surpassed (percentage) M
1 . . . . .
. . . . .
. . . ,
>
~
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 463
is significant at the 1 per' cent level throughout. High scorers show more rigidity and avoidance of ambiguity; low scorers tend toward greater flexibil- ity and acceptance of ambiguity. The inability, on the part of typical high scorers, to face "ambivalence"-which is emotional ambiguity-has been dis- cussed previously, mainly in connection with their attitude toward parents and toward the other sex: in these and other areas hostile emotions were found to have been repressed and hidden behind a fac;ade of glorification. A rigid, and in most instances, conventionalized set of rules seems thus to deter- mine the conception the typical high scorer has of his own and of other people's behavior. Values and religion are often taken over in their most dogmatic form. Quotations cited in the previous chapter revealed these rigid
conceptions on the part of the high scorers in many a sphere of life.
On the other hand, the openness of conflicts and doubts in the case of low scorers likewise became obvious. Over and above the previous quotations the following records from the interviews of low-scoring subjects show their readiness to think over matters and to come to a solution through their
own thinking as well as their unwillingness to take over traditional and fixed concepts and ideals without scrutiny:
M42: He shows much philosophizing about the purpose of it all, involving much questioning of prevailing values about work, success, etc. But, on the other hand, he keeps pulling back and is overcome with doubt and indecision about these things. He emphasizes the basic importance of happiness and the emptiness of "success" without any personal satisfaction.
M44: His speech abounds in qualifying phrases and overintellectualization. He seems repeatedly unable to verbalize a generalization before he is overwhelmed by a rush of qualifications. Further, his thinking is rich in philosophizing, psychologiz- ing, and poetic statement. Moreover, these characteristics are not shallow but have much substance. ". . . Well, I don't think you should obey anyone or anything with- out question. I think it's man's unique function to question and when he ceases to question, he ceases to be man. (Have you ever had serious doubts about your re- ligious beliefs? ) Oh, not especially serious, I'd say, because I believe there should be changes. "
M48: "I'm what they always call an agnostic. Sounds sort of prosaic. . . . I'm skep- tical-though I believe Christ was a great man . . . persecuted. . . . "
M53: (How do you account for your growing away from the conventionalism of your background? ) "I don't know. It wasn't simply a change of locale. I think, probably, through reading. From 15 to 16 I did a lot of reading and became rather dissatisfied with it (i.
