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Fascism
Nazism
Authoritarianism
Social Dominance
Abuse of Power
  • Eric Hoffer
  • Erich Fromm 
  • Victor Frankl
  • Ferenc Merei 
  • Hannah Arendt
  • Theodore Adorno
  • Milton Rokeach
  • George Orwell

Pioneer

Areas of Research

Seminal Works

Eric Hoffer 
(1902 –1983)
  • Recognized the central importance of self-esteem to psychological well-being. 
  • Postulated that fanaticism and self-righteousness are rooted in self-hatred, self-doubt, and insecurity. 
  • Studied the rise of totalitarian governments (Hitler and Stalin).
  • Noted patterns found in all mass movements, religious, political and seemingly benign mass movements that are neither political nor religious. 
  • Noticed that fanatical Nazis later becoming fanatical Communists, fanatical Communists later becoming fanatical anti-Communists, and Saul, persecutor of Christians, becoming Paul, a fanatical Christian. 
  • For the true believer the substance of the mass movement isn’t so important as that they are part of that movement. Suggests heading off the rise of an undesirable mass movement by substituting a benign mass movement.
Erich Fromm
1900-1980
 Postulated eight basic needs:
  • Relatedness: Relationships with others, care, respect, knowledge.
  • Transcendence: Creativity, developing a loving and interesting life.
  • Rootedness: Feeling of belonging.
  • Sense of Identity: Seeing ourselves as a unique person and part of a social group.
  • Frame of orientation: Understanding the world and our place in it.
  • Excitation and Stimulation: Actively striving for a goal rather than simply responding.
  • Unity: A sense of oneness between one person and the "natural and human world outside."
  • Effectiveness: The need to feel accomplished.
Victor Frankl, M.D.
(1905 – 1997)
An Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who survived Nazi concentration camp and slave labor camp.

Expert on suicide
Ferenc Mérei
(1909 — 1986)
Hungarian Psychologist
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Psychodrama
Observed children at a Hungarian nursery school and noticed that successful leaders were those who initially fitted in with the group then slowly began to suggest new activities adapted from the old. Children didn’t follow potential leaders who jumped straight in with new ideas. Leaders first conform, then only later, when trust has been gained, can they be confident that others will follow. This has been confirmed in later studies with adult subjects.
Group Leadership and Institutionalization 
Human Relations 1949
Hannah Arendt
(1906–1975) 
Influential and far-reaching social philosopher and thinker
Studied and wrote on modernity, totalitarianism, alienation, exploitation, basis for value systems, civic engagement, citizenship and fundamental human rights.
Theodore W. Adorno
1903-1969

  • The Authoritarian Personality (a collaborative project)
  • Challenged Heidegger's philosophy
Milton Rokeach
1918 – 1988

The Rokeach Value Survey (see values scales)
  • After participating in the group that developed The Authoritarian Personality, Rokeach observed how authoritarianism can exist on both left and right sides of the political spectrum. 
  • Differentiated levels of belief within a “belief hierarchy” beginning with early indoctrination.
  • Distinguished between rigid and dogmatic belief: "Those who are rigid have difficulty analyzing information; those who are dogmatic have trouble synthesizing new information." Fear of new evidence or ideas can lead to simplistic, narrow and elemental schema and mindsets. Rigid minds are concrete and fail to see the depth, subtlety and nuances of certain conceptions.
  • During the 1960’s, at University of Michigan, he published his studies about the mental processes of prejudice. He noted that people "who are chronically anxious, insecure or frightened cling desperately to their belief system, and are too busy defending themselves against real or imagined threats to absorb information about reality. The more upset we are, the less we are able to consider other ideas, and the more stubbornly we cling to the beliefs that give us comfort and make us feel secure in a changing world."
  • The open and closed mind: investigations into the nature of belief systems and personality systems. Basic Books, 1960
  • The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (1964)
  • Understanding Human Values (1973)
  • Generalized mental rigidity as a factor in ethnocentrism. Abnormal Social Psychology, 1948, 43, 259-278
  • A method for studying individual differences in "narrow-mindedness." . Personality, 1951, 20, 219-233. 13. 
  • Toward the scientific evaluation of social attitudes and ideologies. J. Psychology, 1951, 31, 97-104. 14. 
  • Dogmatism and opinionation on the left and on the right. American Psychologist, 1952, 7, 310.
George Orwell