if in your own home, nobody hurt and
perfectly
all right.
Adorno-T-Authoritarian-Personality-Harper-Bros-1950
.
.
.
I have the ability in such a job to simply go fishing on Saturdays or other days if I don't feel like working.
" Subject indicates that doing so was not a particularly rare occurrence with him.
.
.
.
"And I'm not as economical as my mother.
I take after my dad probably in that respect more.
In having a good time, I'm more like him.
When I start out to have a good time, money doesn't matter.
.
.
.
"
Mss: "I am inclined to be not very careful about spending money myself . . . my wife says so. . . . If I see something I like, I am inclined to buy it. . . . (About older sister:) However, a delightful person to live with. . . . "
Ms6: (Importance of money to father? ) "Not in1portant; never any money- grubbers in my family. My brother is a doctor who went to Ethiopia to help out as a doctor. "
3. DEPENDENCE
Another "central" attitude which is not accepted and faced as such by
the high-scoring subjects is "dependence. " We made reference to this tend- ency in discussing the subjects' attitude toward their family, toward people, and toward themselves. Here we deal with dependence as a generalized trait in its various meanings and the ways in which it is handled by the subject. In Category 49, a diffuse aud ego-alien dependence as manifested by escapism or the dodging of responsibility, a general underlying passivity, helplessness and weakness (in men expressed openly only when they are overwhelmed or victimized, as exemplified by "foxhole religion" and other ali-or-none responses), accompanied by affective poverty, is contrasted with what has for the sake of brevity been labeled love-oriented succorance-nurturance. The first-named alternative is found significantly more often in high scorers (the difference being at the 1 per cent level of confidence) both in the case of men and women interviewees. Since the two patterns of dependence described have been discussed at length in previous chapters, it may suffice here briefly to remind the reader of the basic difference between affectionate love dependence and self-seeking dependence that is barren of affect.
The dependence on support in high-scoring subjects is furthermore clearly evident in their particular type of attitude toward religion. It is primarily when in need that they turn to the Bible; and it is support in the face of need rather than a system of ethics that they seek in religion. Frequently they become religious whenever "dependence on people" conflicts with suspicion, leading to isolation. Examples of this self-centered attitude toward religion from the records of high-scoring subjects are:
Mz3: (Under what conditions might you turn to religion? ) "Yes, under some conditions I might. I have had a lot of sickness, 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. I like the history and sayings of Christ, principally. . . . (What about your conception of God? ) Well, I have none especially. The closest conception I got was when I was in the service, that is, God as strictly man, greater than any on this earth, one that would treat us as a father would his son. I don't think God is terrible in His justice. "
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
Ms8: "Well, I'm not much on praying, myself, but instinctively . . . when a per- son needs something, when nothing else will help, the natural thing to do is turn to the Lord for help-whether prayers are answered, I dont know . . . but I believe prayers will be answered to those few who live and believe in religion, but to a per- son just to pray, no! "
F38: "Everyone should have a definite belief in a deity, instilled in childhood. Something to lean against, if you need it, for instance in case of a death in the family. "
4. AGGRESSION
In considering the relationship of central dynamic tendencies to ethnic prejudice, the problem of "aggression" obviously calls for special attention. Indeed, prejudice seems to be but one of a number of manifestations of aggression. Thus a more detailed analysis of the degree and type of aggression found in the high scorer as compared with the low scorer seems appropriate. The subsequent distinctions of various aspects of aggression show a certain amount of overlapping. One of the foremost distinctions concerns whether aggression is an expression of a general and diffuse rage, with a tendency to be suppressed and to break through in an uncontrolled way, or whether there is a more specific reason for aggression, well integrated with the subject's ego, such as the violation of a principle or loss of love, in which case the expression of aggression is apt to be more specific and more channeled. A further distinction is as to whether the aggression tends to become displaced onto someone who is socially weaker or tends to be directed toward the actual source of frustration, even if this source should be found to be con- nected with those who are authoritative and powerful.
In accordance with these considerations, three aspects of aggression have been distinguished in the Scoring Manual for the interviews. In each case, the first of the two alternatives to be mentioned was. actually found predomi- nantly in the high scorers, the second predominantly in the low scorers, with the difference highly significant for the first two aspects, Categories soa and sob, in both men and women.
In particular, Category soa distinguishes diffuse forms of aggression that are not integrated and have no personalized goal from an aggression that is both "focal" and personal. Reports about blind rage, temper tantrums, and bad temper in general, often found in the records of high-scoring subjects, are pertinent to the first of these two alternatives. The expression of aggres- sion in low scorers shows, by contrast, greater awareness of the cause of aggression which thus tends to become more specific, and to be directed against a certain person or against violation of a general principle. At the same time there seems to be more open conflict and guilt over expressions or feelings of aggression in the low scorers.
Furthermore, aggression may be, on the one hand, moralistic-authoritarian, or totalitarian, or primitive, or even persecutory as in a pogrom frame-of-
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 4S I
mind; or it may be, on the other hand, principled and intellectualized, or else love-oriented, especially in response to rejection by a sought-after ("cathexed") object (Category sob). The clearest expressions of these forms of aggression can be found in those passages of the interviews which deal with social and political issues, i. e. , those excluded in order to make "blind" scoring of the interviews possible. In addition to these passages, however, there are throughout the interviews, especially those of the high scorers, aggressive references to people who are considered as socially inferior, un- educated, not religious, etc. It is to. such references that this subcategory applies. Expressions of generalized tolerance, on the other hand, can be found in many of the records of low scorers.
The distinction between an aggression that is destructive and explosive, tends toward the ali-or-none and toward physical expression, and an aggres- sion that is relatively mild, has a day-to-day charac~r and tends toward regular release and toward verbal expression, is incorporated in Category soc. There is less clear-cut statistical significance for this subcategory, but the trend in the expected direction is nonetheless present.
Statements about differences in the kind of aggression displayed do not imply that low scorers tend on the whole to have successfully overcome the vicissitudes inherent in this crucial aspect of human behavior. It may well be that while they succeed more often than do high scorers in avoid- ing manifestations of aggression which are destructive of others, they do so at the price of increased self-destruction.
5. AMBIV ALENCE
The problem of ambivalence is related to? that of aggression. In discussing attitudes toward parents and sex, the comparative inability of high-scoring subjects to verbalize aggression and thus to face ambivalence was pointed out in detail. It was also intimated that it may be precisely the inability to face ambivalence toward the powerful which leads to socially dangerous forms of displacement of aggression. The following two aspects of ambiv- alence seemed especially important and are thus covered in the Scoring Manual:
Category sI a deals with what may be called the degree of awareness of ambivalence. In the typical high-scoring subject ambivalence is not being faced but rather is rendered ego-alien, whereas it is more often openly admitted in the low scorers. The difference is quite significant in both sexes.
Category Sib deals with the mechanisms which help to circumvent ambiv- alence or to keep it on an unconscious level. The most outstanding of these mechanisms consist in a thinking in terms of dichotomies, i. e. , in terms of pairs of diametrical opposites, and in an inclination toward displacement. Thus, glorification of the ingroup and rejection of the outgroup, familiar from the sphere of social and political beliefs, can be found as a general trend
? 452
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
in some of our clinical data, predominantly in those relating to high scorers. Low scorers, on the other hand, tend toward openly expressing their ambiv- alence toward the original objects, or toward representatives of these objects in reality (e. g. , toward authority, or toward mother figures, respec- tively. ) The ability and the readiness to admit and to express aggression where it originates, instead of projecting and displacing it, provides one of the most important cornerstones of democracy, as was pointed out in parts of the previous discussion on the attitude toward the parents (Chapter X). Conscious aggression is apt to be less intensive than repressed aggression.
Quotations of records revealing underlying ambivalence in high scorers were given in one of the preceding chapters. We may repeat here only what seems a rather typical description of the mother, by one of our high- scoring woman interviewees. "Mother was, of course, a very wonderful person. She was ver): nervous. Irritable only when overdoing. " There are, furthermore, indications in the records of high-scoring subjects of ambiv- alence toward members of professional groups who may be considered as parent substitutes, e. g. , toward the priest, the doctor, the teacher, etc. To be sure, low-scoring subjects manifest a great deal of criticism toward such authoritative figures, but it is usually expressed more directly, and is char- acterized by a lesser degree of that type of anxiety which is not openly faced or admitted.
6. IDENTIFICA TION
One of the aims of the present chapter is to take up topics, discussed in previous sections, under the aspects of personality dynamics as assumed by the school of psychoanalysis. In probing into what is called the "Oedipal" situation of the subjects and their "identifications" in general, we are seri- ously handicapped by the insufficiency of the data from which inferences about the psychogenetic picture could be made. It should be especially acknowledged and kept in mind therefore that in describing identifications in any particular subject we may well be wrong as to the ultimate interpre- tation. But since we are focusing on group trends, a certain neutralization of these sources of error is likely to be achieved.
The problems approached here in connection with the Oedipal situation coincide with those dealt with primarily in psychoanalysis: (1) the problem of cathexis, that is, of the choice of the parental love object, and (2) the problem of identification with one or the other parent. In Category 52a, the question was whether there is an "inverted" or a "normal" Oedipal situation, i. e. , whether the subject has as his or her primary love object the parent of the same or of the opposite sex. Judgment in this respect involves a great deal of inference on the part of the rater. The hypothesis underlying the adoption of this category was that low-scoring subjects will reveal evidence of the normal trend of having more cathexis on the parent of the opposite
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 453
sex. This would be in line' with his more clear-cut heterosexual attitude as referred to in one of the previous chapters.
Due perhaps to the insufficient material on this score, or to the fact that the crucial difference has to be sought in the way of handling-rather than in the mere presence or absence-of the not:mal resolution of the Oedipal situation, this anticipated difference did not turn out to be statistically sig- nificant. For our women interviewees the difference is altogether negligible. For men, however, it may well reach significance in a somewhat larger sample, since I 2 of our extreme low scorers and only 4 of the extreme high scorers report greater attachment to the mother, and since there are totals of I 8 "positive" as against only 7 "negative" instances on the category as a whole. Again it must be emphasized that while such results may be interest- ing as a group trend, in any individual case the relationship to the parents may turn out to be very different, on a deeper level, from what it appears to be on the surface or in overt verbalization. This fact notwithstanding, much in the personality structure of the typical unprejudiced man induces us to believe that his attachment to the mother was indeed close and that it is a source of his favorable attitude toward women and his courage in oppos- ing the father and authorities in general.
The closeness between mother and son is described in the following excerpt from the interview of one of the low-scoring men:
Mss: (Which parent closer to? ) "Closer to my mother quite a bit, confided more than with father, but mostly just about casual things. I think she made too much of me; told me how bright I was, etc. , but I was just better adjusted (than older sister). I think they were awfully thoughtless and cruel to her. "
While preference for the parent of the opposite sex does not differentiate significantly between high and low scorers, there is a significant difference with respect to acceptance of, or defense against, identification with the parent of the opposite sex or with the "weaker" parent (femininity in men and masculinity in women). The respective category, 52b, contrasts an underlying ego-alien identification with the role of the parent of the opposite sex (emphasizing the dominance-submission conflict) with a genuine ego- integrated identification with either parent or with both parents. The differ- ence, significant at the I per cent level, indicates that high-scoring men tend to repress their "femininity," high-scoring women their "masculinity. " The following examples show how little resistance, on the other hand, low-scoring men seem to have to discussing their similarities with their mothers and to showing their partial identifications with them:
M48: (Parents' feelings? ) "Of course, my mother I imagine thinks it's a pretty good idea. My family have always had (artistic talents). Mother married a second time-stepfather would be against it. . . . (How do you take after your mother? ) Well, very peculiar thing. I never thought mother was too bright or intellectual and I'm not either. "
? 454
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
M59: (Similarities to mother? ) "Well, both of us are a little sensitive in tempera- ment, kind of quiet. I think we both like a certain amount of solitude. I used to like to take her out to dinner, to the theater quite often. "
M42: (Which parent did you take after most? ) "Well, I dont know. . . . I suppose I take after my mother's side of the family. I have a lot of traits like her father and brother . . . but she, herself, is more like her mother . . . although I have a lot of char- acteristics of my father. I have quick temper like he does. "
Alongside the repression of feminine trends, high-scoring men tend to display what may be called "pseudo-masculinity" whereas low-scoring men tend to develop more ego-integrated masculinity and an acceptance of feminine tendencies in themselves, the emphasis being on character traits and internalized values rather than on a display of masculinity. The difference within this category, szc. M, is significant at the 1 per cent level. For women, the corresponding difference does not reach statistical significance although there is a trend in the expected direction.
7. SUPEREGO
It seems to be the lack of genuine identification with, and the fear of, the
parents which leads in the high scorers to an externalization of the superego, with the punishing and rewarding authority seen as being outside rather than inside of oneself. By contrast, low scorers tend toward an internalized con- science; their behavior is primarily oriented toward genuine, intrinsic values and standards rather than toward external authorities (Category 53). Rated directly and as such, this difference turns out in a statistically highly satis- factory manner, thus supporting the inferences made so far on the more specific aspects of this basic distinction.
Examples of the leaning on external authorities in the records of high- scoring men are:
M58: "If you don't harm anybody else, it's all right. . . . If you break a man-made law, it's OK if you don't harm someone else-the law is made to protect people. . . . If you harm yourself then also it could be wrong. . . . (Example? ) W ell, drinking . . .
if in your own home, nobody hurt and perfectly all right. . . . Law is broken every day in this respect. Adultery, as long as never found out, is OK-if found out, then it's wrong. Since some of the most respected people do it, it must be all right. "
M41: (Views? ) "Well, I believe a person should believe in religion. . . . Helps to protect society. (Q) A person that believes in religion, they're not apt to . . . or pull off any kind of crime. "
M 51: "It's mostly a matter of disciplining yourself. . . . I never was so disgusted in my life( i. 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).
Mss: "I am inclined to be not very careful about spending money myself . . . my wife says so. . . . If I see something I like, I am inclined to buy it. . . . (About older sister:) However, a delightful person to live with. . . . "
Ms6: (Importance of money to father? ) "Not in1portant; never any money- grubbers in my family. My brother is a doctor who went to Ethiopia to help out as a doctor. "
3. DEPENDENCE
Another "central" attitude which is not accepted and faced as such by
the high-scoring subjects is "dependence. " We made reference to this tend- ency in discussing the subjects' attitude toward their family, toward people, and toward themselves. Here we deal with dependence as a generalized trait in its various meanings and the ways in which it is handled by the subject. In Category 49, a diffuse aud ego-alien dependence as manifested by escapism or the dodging of responsibility, a general underlying passivity, helplessness and weakness (in men expressed openly only when they are overwhelmed or victimized, as exemplified by "foxhole religion" and other ali-or-none responses), accompanied by affective poverty, is contrasted with what has for the sake of brevity been labeled love-oriented succorance-nurturance. The first-named alternative is found significantly more often in high scorers (the difference being at the 1 per cent level of confidence) both in the case of men and women interviewees. Since the two patterns of dependence described have been discussed at length in previous chapters, it may suffice here briefly to remind the reader of the basic difference between affectionate love dependence and self-seeking dependence that is barren of affect.
The dependence on support in high-scoring subjects is furthermore clearly evident in their particular type of attitude toward religion. It is primarily when in need that they turn to the Bible; and it is support in the face of need rather than a system of ethics that they seek in religion. Frequently they become religious whenever "dependence on people" conflicts with suspicion, leading to isolation. Examples of this self-centered attitude toward religion from the records of high-scoring subjects are:
Mz3: (Under what conditions might you turn to religion? ) "Yes, under some conditions I might. I have had a lot of sickness, 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. I like the history and sayings of Christ, principally. . . . (What about your conception of God? ) Well, I have none especially. The closest conception I got was when I was in the service, that is, God as strictly man, greater than any on this earth, one that would treat us as a father would his son. I don't think God is terrible in His justice. "
? THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
Ms8: "Well, I'm not much on praying, myself, but instinctively . . . when a per- son needs something, when nothing else will help, the natural thing to do is turn to the Lord for help-whether prayers are answered, I dont know . . . but I believe prayers will be answered to those few who live and believe in religion, but to a per- son just to pray, no! "
F38: "Everyone should have a definite belief in a deity, instilled in childhood. Something to lean against, if you need it, for instance in case of a death in the family. "
4. AGGRESSION
In considering the relationship of central dynamic tendencies to ethnic prejudice, the problem of "aggression" obviously calls for special attention. Indeed, prejudice seems to be but one of a number of manifestations of aggression. Thus a more detailed analysis of the degree and type of aggression found in the high scorer as compared with the low scorer seems appropriate. The subsequent distinctions of various aspects of aggression show a certain amount of overlapping. One of the foremost distinctions concerns whether aggression is an expression of a general and diffuse rage, with a tendency to be suppressed and to break through in an uncontrolled way, or whether there is a more specific reason for aggression, well integrated with the subject's ego, such as the violation of a principle or loss of love, in which case the expression of aggression is apt to be more specific and more channeled. A further distinction is as to whether the aggression tends to become displaced onto someone who is socially weaker or tends to be directed toward the actual source of frustration, even if this source should be found to be con- nected with those who are authoritative and powerful.
In accordance with these considerations, three aspects of aggression have been distinguished in the Scoring Manual for the interviews. In each case, the first of the two alternatives to be mentioned was. actually found predomi- nantly in the high scorers, the second predominantly in the low scorers, with the difference highly significant for the first two aspects, Categories soa and sob, in both men and women.
In particular, Category soa distinguishes diffuse forms of aggression that are not integrated and have no personalized goal from an aggression that is both "focal" and personal. Reports about blind rage, temper tantrums, and bad temper in general, often found in the records of high-scoring subjects, are pertinent to the first of these two alternatives. The expression of aggres- sion in low scorers shows, by contrast, greater awareness of the cause of aggression which thus tends to become more specific, and to be directed against a certain person or against violation of a general principle. At the same time there seems to be more open conflict and guilt over expressions or feelings of aggression in the low scorers.
Furthermore, aggression may be, on the one hand, moralistic-authoritarian, or totalitarian, or primitive, or even persecutory as in a pogrom frame-of-
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 4S I
mind; or it may be, on the other hand, principled and intellectualized, or else love-oriented, especially in response to rejection by a sought-after ("cathexed") object (Category sob). The clearest expressions of these forms of aggression can be found in those passages of the interviews which deal with social and political issues, i. e. , those excluded in order to make "blind" scoring of the interviews possible. In addition to these passages, however, there are throughout the interviews, especially those of the high scorers, aggressive references to people who are considered as socially inferior, un- educated, not religious, etc. It is to. such references that this subcategory applies. Expressions of generalized tolerance, on the other hand, can be found in many of the records of low scorers.
The distinction between an aggression that is destructive and explosive, tends toward the ali-or-none and toward physical expression, and an aggres- sion that is relatively mild, has a day-to-day charac~r and tends toward regular release and toward verbal expression, is incorporated in Category soc. There is less clear-cut statistical significance for this subcategory, but the trend in the expected direction is nonetheless present.
Statements about differences in the kind of aggression displayed do not imply that low scorers tend on the whole to have successfully overcome the vicissitudes inherent in this crucial aspect of human behavior. It may well be that while they succeed more often than do high scorers in avoid- ing manifestations of aggression which are destructive of others, they do so at the price of increased self-destruction.
5. AMBIV ALENCE
The problem of ambivalence is related to? that of aggression. In discussing attitudes toward parents and sex, the comparative inability of high-scoring subjects to verbalize aggression and thus to face ambivalence was pointed out in detail. It was also intimated that it may be precisely the inability to face ambivalence toward the powerful which leads to socially dangerous forms of displacement of aggression. The following two aspects of ambiv- alence seemed especially important and are thus covered in the Scoring Manual:
Category sI a deals with what may be called the degree of awareness of ambivalence. In the typical high-scoring subject ambivalence is not being faced but rather is rendered ego-alien, whereas it is more often openly admitted in the low scorers. The difference is quite significant in both sexes.
Category Sib deals with the mechanisms which help to circumvent ambiv- alence or to keep it on an unconscious level. The most outstanding of these mechanisms consist in a thinking in terms of dichotomies, i. e. , in terms of pairs of diametrical opposites, and in an inclination toward displacement. Thus, glorification of the ingroup and rejection of the outgroup, familiar from the sphere of social and political beliefs, can be found as a general trend
? 452
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
in some of our clinical data, predominantly in those relating to high scorers. Low scorers, on the other hand, tend toward openly expressing their ambiv- alence toward the original objects, or toward representatives of these objects in reality (e. g. , toward authority, or toward mother figures, respec- tively. ) The ability and the readiness to admit and to express aggression where it originates, instead of projecting and displacing it, provides one of the most important cornerstones of democracy, as was pointed out in parts of the previous discussion on the attitude toward the parents (Chapter X). Conscious aggression is apt to be less intensive than repressed aggression.
Quotations of records revealing underlying ambivalence in high scorers were given in one of the preceding chapters. We may repeat here only what seems a rather typical description of the mother, by one of our high- scoring woman interviewees. "Mother was, of course, a very wonderful person. She was ver): nervous. Irritable only when overdoing. " There are, furthermore, indications in the records of high-scoring subjects of ambiv- alence toward members of professional groups who may be considered as parent substitutes, e. g. , toward the priest, the doctor, the teacher, etc. To be sure, low-scoring subjects manifest a great deal of criticism toward such authoritative figures, but it is usually expressed more directly, and is char- acterized by a lesser degree of that type of anxiety which is not openly faced or admitted.
6. IDENTIFICA TION
One of the aims of the present chapter is to take up topics, discussed in previous sections, under the aspects of personality dynamics as assumed by the school of psychoanalysis. In probing into what is called the "Oedipal" situation of the subjects and their "identifications" in general, we are seri- ously handicapped by the insufficiency of the data from which inferences about the psychogenetic picture could be made. It should be especially acknowledged and kept in mind therefore that in describing identifications in any particular subject we may well be wrong as to the ultimate interpre- tation. But since we are focusing on group trends, a certain neutralization of these sources of error is likely to be achieved.
The problems approached here in connection with the Oedipal situation coincide with those dealt with primarily in psychoanalysis: (1) the problem of cathexis, that is, of the choice of the parental love object, and (2) the problem of identification with one or the other parent. In Category 52a, the question was whether there is an "inverted" or a "normal" Oedipal situation, i. e. , whether the subject has as his or her primary love object the parent of the same or of the opposite sex. Judgment in this respect involves a great deal of inference on the part of the rater. The hypothesis underlying the adoption of this category was that low-scoring subjects will reveal evidence of the normal trend of having more cathexis on the parent of the opposite
? PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION SEEN THROUGH INTERVIEWS 453
sex. This would be in line' with his more clear-cut heterosexual attitude as referred to in one of the previous chapters.
Due perhaps to the insufficient material on this score, or to the fact that the crucial difference has to be sought in the way of handling-rather than in the mere presence or absence-of the not:mal resolution of the Oedipal situation, this anticipated difference did not turn out to be statistically sig- nificant. For our women interviewees the difference is altogether negligible. For men, however, it may well reach significance in a somewhat larger sample, since I 2 of our extreme low scorers and only 4 of the extreme high scorers report greater attachment to the mother, and since there are totals of I 8 "positive" as against only 7 "negative" instances on the category as a whole. Again it must be emphasized that while such results may be interest- ing as a group trend, in any individual case the relationship to the parents may turn out to be very different, on a deeper level, from what it appears to be on the surface or in overt verbalization. This fact notwithstanding, much in the personality structure of the typical unprejudiced man induces us to believe that his attachment to the mother was indeed close and that it is a source of his favorable attitude toward women and his courage in oppos- ing the father and authorities in general.
The closeness between mother and son is described in the following excerpt from the interview of one of the low-scoring men:
Mss: (Which parent closer to? ) "Closer to my mother quite a bit, confided more than with father, but mostly just about casual things. I think she made too much of me; told me how bright I was, etc. , but I was just better adjusted (than older sister). I think they were awfully thoughtless and cruel to her. "
While preference for the parent of the opposite sex does not differentiate significantly between high and low scorers, there is a significant difference with respect to acceptance of, or defense against, identification with the parent of the opposite sex or with the "weaker" parent (femininity in men and masculinity in women). The respective category, 52b, contrasts an underlying ego-alien identification with the role of the parent of the opposite sex (emphasizing the dominance-submission conflict) with a genuine ego- integrated identification with either parent or with both parents. The differ- ence, significant at the I per cent level, indicates that high-scoring men tend to repress their "femininity," high-scoring women their "masculinity. " The following examples show how little resistance, on the other hand, low-scoring men seem to have to discussing their similarities with their mothers and to showing their partial identifications with them:
M48: (Parents' feelings? ) "Of course, my mother I imagine thinks it's a pretty good idea. My family have always had (artistic talents). Mother married a second time-stepfather would be against it. . . . (How do you take after your mother? ) Well, very peculiar thing. I never thought mother was too bright or intellectual and I'm not either. "
? 454
THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY
M59: (Similarities to mother? ) "Well, both of us are a little sensitive in tempera- ment, kind of quiet. I think we both like a certain amount of solitude. I used to like to take her out to dinner, to the theater quite often. "
M42: (Which parent did you take after most? ) "Well, I dont know. . . . I suppose I take after my mother's side of the family. I have a lot of traits like her father and brother . . . but she, herself, is more like her mother . . . although I have a lot of char- acteristics of my father. I have quick temper like he does. "
Alongside the repression of feminine trends, high-scoring men tend to display what may be called "pseudo-masculinity" whereas low-scoring men tend to develop more ego-integrated masculinity and an acceptance of feminine tendencies in themselves, the emphasis being on character traits and internalized values rather than on a display of masculinity. The difference within this category, szc. M, is significant at the 1 per cent level. For women, the corresponding difference does not reach statistical significance although there is a trend in the expected direction.
7. SUPEREGO
It seems to be the lack of genuine identification with, and the fear of, the
parents which leads in the high scorers to an externalization of the superego, with the punishing and rewarding authority seen as being outside rather than inside of oneself. By contrast, low scorers tend toward an internalized con- science; their behavior is primarily oriented toward genuine, intrinsic values and standards rather than toward external authorities (Category 53). Rated directly and as such, this difference turns out in a statistically highly satis- factory manner, thus supporting the inferences made so far on the more specific aspects of this basic distinction.
Examples of the leaning on external authorities in the records of high- scoring men are:
M58: "If you don't harm anybody else, it's all right. . . . If you break a man-made law, it's OK if you don't harm someone else-the law is made to protect people. . . . If you harm yourself then also it could be wrong. . . . (Example? ) W ell, drinking . . .
if in your own home, nobody hurt and perfectly all right. . . . Law is broken every day in this respect. Adultery, as long as never found out, is OK-if found out, then it's wrong. Since some of the most respected people do it, it must be all right. "
M41: (Views? ) "Well, I believe a person should believe in religion. . . . Helps to protect society. (Q) A person that believes in religion, they're not apt to . . . or pull off any kind of crime. "
M 51: "It's mostly a matter of disciplining yourself. . . . I never was so disgusted in my life( i. 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).
