Strength and Weakness: The Authoritarian Personality Today

The purpose of Strength and Weakness is to assess the current status of authoritarianism and authoritarian personality research. Throughout decades of formidable social and political transformation, the study of authoritarianism and the measurement issues associated with those studies have witnessed a prodigious refining process of social-science research methods. This book attests to the fascinating and fertile interaction both in the USA and in Europe between theoreticians and experimentalists in personality research. It shows that the validity of the methods and language of research is continuously reasserted; similarly, the concepts which are the objects of study, such as the concept of authoritarianism, are reinforced. In the field of authoritarianism research, theory building and empirical verification are engaged in a very dynamic relationship. This book is essential reading for social and personality psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and historians.