How the Fascist and Non-Fascist Self May Develop

Else Frenkel-Brunswik’s qualitative analyses in "The Authoritarian Personality" and their comparison to studies on resisters

Authors

  • Lucyna Darowska University of Oldenburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/serendipities.v7i1-2.132979

Keywords:

Else Frenkel-Brunswik, (rescue) resisters, The Authoritarian Personality, qualitative study, authoritarian personality structure

Abstract

In the context of several authoritarian regimes around the world, there is growing interest in explain­ing these processes of change. This article follows the tradition of the social sciences in striving to understand the social mechanisms of motivational structures of the self in interaction with societal contexts. The author draws on the qualitative contributions to the studies on fascism by the Berkeley University Group, published in 1950 as ‘The Authoritarian Personality’ by Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson and R. Nevitt Sanford (1950). This article analyses the quali­tative sections of the Study presented by Else Frenkel-Brunswik and compares these with the results of selected studies on resisters. Based on this analysis, the article discusses the results of the com­parison and the relevance of Frenkel-Brunswik’s contribution, as well as the implications for further research.

References

Adorno, Theodor W. (2019) Types of Syndromes, in: Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritarian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon. London; New York: Verso, 744-783.

Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford (2019 [1950]): The Authoritarian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon. London; New York: Verso.

Altemeyer, Bob (1981) Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press.

Altemeyer, Bob (1988) Enemies of Freedom. Understanding right-wing authoritarianism, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Arendt, Hannah (2020) Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft. Übungen im politischen Denken I, ed. by Ursula Ludz. München: Piper.

Arendt, Hannah (1986) Eichmann in Jerusalem. Ein Bericht von der Banalität des Bösen. München: Piper.

Bandura, Albert (1977) Social Learning Theory. London: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, Albert (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action. A Social Cognitive Theory. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Bauman, Zygmunt (20211992) Dialektik der Ordnung. Die Moderne und der Holocaust. Hamburg, Europäische Verlagsanstalt.

Bowlby, John, and Mary D. Salter Ainsworth (2005) Frühe Bindung und kindliche Entwicklung. München; Basel: E. Reinhardt.

Browning, Christopher R. (1992) Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. New York: HarperCollins.

Buber-Neumann, Margarete (1996) Milena, Kafkas Freundin. Ein Lebensbild. Frankfurt am Main: Ullstein.

Conway, Lucian Gideon, Shannon C. Houck, Gornick, Janelle Laura, and Meredith A. Repke (2018) Finding the Loch Ness Monster: Left-Wing Authoritarianism in the United States, Political Psychology 39(5): 1049–1067. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12470.

Darowska, Lucyna (2012) Widerstand und Biografie. Die widerständige Praxis der Prager Journalistin Milena Jesenská gegen den Nationalsozialismus. Bielefeld: transcript. https://doi.org/10.1515/transcript.9783839417836.

Dornes, Martin (20041993) Der kompetente Säugling. Die präverbale Entwicklung des Menschen. Frankfurt Main: Fischer.

Dornes, Martin (1997) Die frühe Kindheit. Entwicklungspsychologie der ersten Lebensjahre. Frankfurt Main: Fischer.

Eysenck, Hans Jürgen (1956) The Psychology of Politics and the Personality Similarities between Fascists and Communists, Psychological Bulletin 53: 431–438. https://doi.org/10.1037/

h0043987.

Fahrenberg, Jochen, and John M. Steiner (2004) Adorno und die autoritäre Persönlichkeit, Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 56: 127–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-004-0006-3.

Fahrenberg, Jochen, and Anne Fahrenberg (2021) Täterforschung nach Auschwitz. John M. Steiner Untersuchungen (1962–2014), Freiburg i. Br. 2021. Dokumentation. https://doi.org/10.23668/

PSYCHARCHIVES.5158.

Fogelman, Eva (1995) „Wir waren keine Helden“. Lebensretter im Angesicht des Holocaust. Motive, Geschichten, Hintergründe. New York: Campus.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (2019a) The Interviews as an Approach to the Prejudiced Personality, in: Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritarian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon, 291–336. London; New York: Verso.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (2019b) Parents and Childhood as seen through the Interviews, in: Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritar-ian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon, 337–389. London; New York: Verso.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (2019c) Sex, People, and Self as seen through the Interviews, in: Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritar-ian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon, 390–441. London; New York: Verso.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (2019d) Dynamic and Cognitive Personality Organization as seen through the Interviews, in: Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritarian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon, 442–467. London; New York: Verso.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (2019e) Comprehensive Scores and Summary of Interview Results, in: Adorno, Theodor W., Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford: The Authoritarian Personality. In collaboration with Betty Aron, Mara Hertz Levinson and William Morrow. With a new intro¬duction by Peter E. Gordon, 468–486. London; New York: Verso.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (1949) Intolerance of Ambiguity as an emotional and perceptual personality variable, Journal of personality 18(1): 108–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1949.

tb01236.x.

Frenkel-Brunswik, Else (1996) Studien zur autoritären Persönlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften, ed. by Dietmar Paier. Graz; Wien: Nausner & Nausner.

Frenkel-Brunswik (1996a[1954]) Psychoanalyse und Einheitswissenschaft (Original: Psychoanalysis and the unity of science, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 80, 1954, 271-350), in: Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Studien zur autoritären Persönlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften, ed. by Dietmar Paier, 91–147. Graz; Wien: Nausner & Nausner.

Frenkel-Brunswik (1996b[1949]) Intoleranz gegenüber Mehrdeutigkeit (Original: Intolerance of am-biguity as an emotional and perceptual personality variable, Journal of Personality 18(1): 108–143), in: Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Studien zur autoritären Persönlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften, ed. by Dietmar Paier, 179–204. Graz; Wien: Nausner & Nausner.

Frenkel-Brunswik (1996c) Anpassung an die Umwelt und die Verarmung des Denkens (Original: Environmental controls and the impoverishment of thought, in: Carl J. Friedrich (Ed.) Totalita-rianism, 171–202. Cambridge: Harvard University Press), in: Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Studien zur autoritären Persönlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften, ed. by Dietmar Paier, 207–231. Graz; Wien: Nausner & Nausner.

Frenkel-Brunswik (1996d[1952]) Das Zusammenspiel psychologischer und soziologischer Faktoren im politischen Verhalten (Original: Interaction of psychological and sociological factors in politi¬cal behavior, The American Political Science Review 46: 44–65), in Else Frenkel-Brunswik: Stu¬dien zur autoritären Persönlichkeit. Ausgewählte Schriften, ed. by Dietmar Paier, 232–253. Graz; Wien: Nausner & Nausner.

Fromm, Erich (1995) Die Entdeckung des gesellschaftlichen Unbewußten. München: Wilhelm Hyene Verlag.

Fromm, Erich (20191980) Arbeiter und Angestellte am Vorabend des Dritten Reiches. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag.

Gross, Rafael (2012) Anständig geblieben. Nationalsozialistische Moral. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

Grossman, Frances G. (1984) Psychological study of Gentiles who saved Jews, in: Israel W. Charny (Ed.): Toward the understanding of Holocaust and prevention of genocide, 202–216. Boulder: Westview Press.

Hannich, Hans-Joachim (2018) Individualpsychologie nach Alfred Adler. Stuttgart: W. Kohl-hammer

Hopf, Christel (1992) Eltern-Idealisierung und Autoritarismus. Kritische Überlegungen zu einigen sozialpsychologischen Annahmen Zeitschrift für Sozialisationsforschung und Erziehungssoziolo-gie, ZSE (Zeitschrift für Sozialisationsforschung und Erziehungssoziologie) 12: 52–65.

Hopf, Christel (1990) Autoritarismus und soziale Beziehungen in der Familie. Qualitative Studien zur Genese autoritärer Dispositionen, Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 63(3): 371–390.

Horkheimer, Max, and Theodor W. Adorno (2013) Dialektik der Aufklärung. Philosophische Frag-mente. Frankfurt Main: S. Fischer.

Jesenská, Milena (1996) Alles ist Leben. Feuilletons und Reportagen 1919–1939, ed. by Dorothea Rein. Frankfurt am Main: Neue Kritik.

Lang, Jochen von (2001) Das Eichmann-Protokoll. Tonbandaufzeichnungen israelischer Verhöre, mit 48 faksimillierten Dokumenten. Hamburg: Ullstein.

Lederer, Gerda (1995) Die „Autoritäre Persönlichkeit“: Geschichte einer Theorie, in: Gerda Lederer and Peter Schmidt (Eds.) Autoritarismus und Gesellschaft. Trendanalysen und vergleichende Jugenduntersuchungen 1945–1993, 25–51. Opladen: Leske + Budrich. https://doi.org/10.1007/

-3-322-91401-9_2.

Levy, David M. (1948) Anti-Nazis. Criteria of Differentiation, Psychiatry 11(2): 125–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1948.11022678.

Lustiger, Arno (2011) Rettungswiderstand. Über die Judenretter in Europa während der NS-Zeit. Göttingen: Wallstein. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783835321502.

Mallmann, Klaus-Michael, and Gerhard Paul (Eds.) (2013) Karrieren der Gewalt. Nationalsozialis-tische Täterbiographien. Darmstadt: WBG.

Mann, Michael (2000) Were the Perpetrators of Genocide ‘Ordinary Men’ or ‘Real Nazis’? Results from Fifteen Hundred Biographies, Holocaust and Genocide Studies 14(3): 331–366. https://doi.org/10.1093/hgs/14.3.331.

Pohl, Rolf (2011) ‘Normal’ oder ‘pathologisch’? Eine Kritik an der Ausrichtung der neueren NS-Täterforschung, in: Pohl, Rolf, and Joachim Perels (Eds.) Normalität der NS-Täter?, 9–45. Hannover: Offizin.

Roiser, Martin, and Carla Willig (2002) The strange death of the authoritarian personality: 50 years of psychological and political debate, History of the Human Sciences 15(4): 71–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695102015004682.

Rokeach, Milton (1960) The open and closed mind. New York: Basic Books.

Sagan, Eli (1988) Freud, women, and morality: The psychology of good and evil. New York: Basic Books.

Shearman, Sachiyo, and Timothy R. Levine (2006) Dogmatism Updated: A Scale Revision and Validation, Communication Quarterly 54(3): 275–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/

Seipel, Christian, Susanne Rippl, and Gerda Lederer (1995) Trendanalysen und internationaler Ver-gleich des Autoritarismus, in: Gerda Lederer and Peter Schmidt (Eds.) Autoritarismus und Gesellschaft. Trendanalysen und vergleichende Jugenduntersuchungen 1945–1993, 59–85. Opladen: Leske + Budrich. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-91401-9_4.

Stern, Daniel (2020) Die Lebenserfahrung des Säuglings. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.

Welzer, Harald (2007) Täter. Wie aus normalen Menschen Massenmörder werden, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

Wiedemann, Felix (2019) „Anständige“ Täter – „asoziale“ Opfer. Der Wiesbadener Juristenprozess 1951/52 und die Aufarbeitung des Mords an Strafgefangenen im Nationalsozialismus, Viertel-jahrhefte für Zeitgeschichte 67(4): 593–619. https://doi.org/10.1515/vfzg-2019-0040.

Downloads

Published

2023-01-10

How to Cite

Darowska, L. (2023) “How the Fascist and Non-Fascist Self May Develop: Else Frenkel-Brunswik’s qualitative analyses in ‘The Authoritarian Personality’ and their comparison to studies on resisters”, Serendipities. Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sciences, 7(1-2), pp. 74–101. doi: 10.7146/serendipities.v7i1-2.132979.

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1-2 (2022): Serendipities. Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sciences

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Lucyna Darowska

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

CC-BY-NC-ND