Effect of the Group on Authoritarian and Non-Authoritarian Persons

Abstract

Differential effects of group pressure upon subjects with authoritarian and those with non-authoritarian personalities were measured by subjecting individuals to three laboratory experiments in authokinesis. They were first tested alone to establish individual norms, then in small-group situations designed to exert social pressure toward extreme judgments, and, finally, individually again. Both groups were influenced significantly by the group pressures. The mean estimate of light movement increased more than 100 per cent among the non-authoritarian and more than 500 per cent among the authoritarian. The effect of group pressure did not appear to mount with successive trials but, once established, remained relatively effective even in the final individual tests.