The Myth of Left-Wing Authoritarianism

Abstract

The authors of The Authoritarian Personality (Adorno, et al., 1950), armed with the modern tools of psychoanalysis as well as ancient knowledge of scapegoating, reported an extensive series of investigations into the psychological roots of fascism. The book's basic thesis was that antisemitism and prejudice toward outgoups, collectively designated ethnocentrism, is basic to the fascism-prone personality. Further, the authors believed that a multifaceted approach, based upon psychoanalytic understandings of personality, could