The California F-scale is a 1947
personality test
A personality test is a method of assessing human personality constructs. Most personality assessment instruments (despite being loosely referred to as "personality tests") are in fact introspective (i.e., subjective) self-report questionnaire ( ...
, designed by
Theodor W. Adorno
Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer.
He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of criti ...
and others to measure the "
authoritarian personality
The authoritarian personality is a personality type characterized by a disposition to treat authority figures with unquestioning obedience and respect. Conceptually, the term ''authoritarian personality'' originated from the writings of Erich Fro ...
". The "F" stands for "
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
". The F-scale measures responses on several different components of authoritarianism, such as conventionalism, authoritarian aggression, superstition and stereotypy, power and "toughness", destructiveness and cynicism, projectivity, and sex. Scores acquired from the F-scale could be directly associated with background components, educational level, and intellectual capacity.
It is an indirect type of test that ensures the result would not be due to the individual's fake responses; this is possible because the purpose of the measurement and which attitude is being measured are initially concealed from the participants.
The existence of this correlation could possibly affect the way in which the F-scale accurately measures the authoritarian personality syndrome.
The F-scale has two principal purposes: it aims to measure prejudice and anti-democratic tendencies at the personality level.
The purpose of the F-scale is to measure an antidemocratic personality structure, usually defined by authoritarianism. A score of above 80 on the F-scale test indicates that the subject may be suffering from severe psychopathology. Patients who suffer from repeated episodes of disorders usually get a higher F-scale score than those who have acute disorders. Research has not found any correlation between F-scale scores and educational level.
The scale specifically examines the following personality dimensions:
* Conventionalism: conformity to the traditional societal norms and values of the middle class;
* Authoritarian submission: a passive notion towards adhering to conventional norms and values;
* Authoritarian aggression: punishing and condemning individuals who don’t adhere to conventional values;
* Religion and Ethics;
* Superstition
*
Power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
and "toughness";
* Anti-intraception, i.e. "rejection of all inwardness, of the subjective, the imaginative, the tender-minded, and of
self-criticism
Self-criticism involves how an individual evaluates oneself. Self-criticism in psychology is typically studied and discussed as a negative personality trait in which a person has a disrupted self-identity. The opposite of self-criticism would be ...
";
* Destructiveness and Cynicism: Generalized hostility, vilification of the human;
* Projectivity: The disposition to believe that wild and dangerous things go on in the world; the projection outwards of unconscious emotional impulses; and
* Sex: Exaggerated concern with sexual "goings-on."
F-scale tests measure not only the subject's overall level of stress but also their willingness to cooperate in the testing process.
Early research
Research in the late 1960s focused on police and the detection of authoritarianism.
Doubt about its indirect measure
According to data presented by Baljeet Ahmed Muhammad, a hypothesis was formed proposing that brighter people are capable of penetrating the significance of the F-scale, helping them react in a more "suitable" fashion. Hence, because the F-scale can be faked, it cannot be considered as an indirect measure.
In the course of the
Minnesota Adoption Study it was found that "the F-scale scores were negatively correlated with
WAIS vocabulary
n IQ test
N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...
(−0.42) and showed the same pattern of family correlations".
Criticism
The scale has attracted a great deal of criticism, since it is ideological and associates societal processes with personality characteristics.
Among the criticisms of the F-scale is its sensitivity to respondents with
acquiescent response styles due to being worded so that agreement always indicated an authoritarian response. A number of related scales such as the
Wilson–Patterson Conservatism Scale
The Wilson–Patterson Conservatism Scale (abbreviated W–P conservatism scale) is a widely used survey instrument intended to measure respondents' political ideology in terms of liberalism and conservatism
Conservatism is a cultur ...
and the Balanced F-scale have been created in an attempt to fix the shortcomings of the F-scale.
Bob Altemeyer
Robert Anthony Altemeyer (born 6 June 1940) is a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba. Altemeyer also produced the right-wing authoritarianism scale, or RWA Scale, as well as the related left-wing authoritarianism scale, ...
's
Right-wing authoritarianism
In psychology, the right-wing authoritarian (RWA) is a personality type that describes somebody who is highly submissive to their authority figures, acts aggressively in the name of said authorities, and is conformist in thought and behavior. Th ...
Scale is the most frequently used, contemporary descendant of the F-scale.
Another criticism of the test is the assumption that users with a high score are unsophisticated and may lack social intelligence. According to Kelman and Barclay (1963), the experience of the participant is reflected on the test score; ''i.e.'', they may not be able to see the obvious pattern and motives recurring in the test and be ignorant of it.
See also
*
California Psychological Inventory The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) is a self-report inventory created by Harrison G. Gough and currently published by Consulting Psychologists Press. The text containing the test was first published in 1956, and the most recent revision w ...
* ''
The Authoritarian Personality
''The Authoritarian Personality'' is a 1950 sociology book by Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford, researchers working at the University of California, Berkeley, during and shortly after World War II.
...
''
References
Further reading
* {{cite journal , journal=Behavioral Research in Accounting , year=1989 , title=Pitfalls in Using the F Scale to Measure Authoritarianism in Accounting Research , url=http://jonjayray.tripod.com/gul.html , first1=Ferdinand A. , last1=Gul , first2=John J. , last2=Ray , volume=1 , pages=182–92
The F-scale instrument in an online interactive form
Personality tests
Fascism