Re:[OT] F-scale bunk

----- Original Message -----
From: "Allan Goodall" <agoodall@att.net>

> I think that's the main reason for putting the quiz on the web. If
this is
an
> actual test that was used, it is horribly unscientific. On the other
hand,
I
> wonder if it really was a test. Note that there's no information as to
who
was
> given this test, when, and what the results were.

Well, the website ( http://www.anesi.com/fscale.htm ) DOES give a source
(which many websites don't) so, hopefully, such information is in the
book.

BTW, there are several websites with the same ore very similar tests -
do a
search with some of the catchphrases. Man have copied whole sections
verbatim.

> The whole thing could be an
> urban legend. At any rate, I was amused by it but didn't think of it
as
any
> more than a fun test and, possibly, an interesting look at American
society in
> the 50s.

It is, even more, a look at Germany in the 1930'/40's. Note that the
original author, Theodor W.Adorno, was a German sociologists who
pondered
the question of how the Nazis could find so many adherents. He developed
the
theory of an 'authoritarian personality' especially prone to falling for
strong leaders and for suppressing those weaker than himself. The test
is
obviously designed to measure those traits. I just wonder how much the
original source reffered  to Americans.

Greetings
Karl Heinz