ABSTRACT
In light of the Nazi era and the Holocaust, Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford carried out the so-called Berkeley Studies, studying anti-democratic and fascistic tendencies in individuals. Their findings, published in 1950 as The Authoritarian Personality, build on the work of Freud and Fromm and aim to understand whether authoritarian tendencies remain latent or dormant. In this and other studies of the 1950s, such as “Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda,” Adorno grappled with the relationship among anti-Semitism, prejudice, racism, xenophobia, and economic factors, connecting Marxism, Freudian psychoanalysis, and sociological approaches. While The Authoritarian Personality has been challenged and even derided for its methodology, the study remains under-scrutinized and illuminates current events. This essay provides an account of the argument, impact of, and debates around The Authoritarian Personality at the time of its publication and then discusses how its insights inform current work within Perpetrator Studies.
