How the Fascist and Non-Fascist Self May Develop

Abstract

In the context of several authoritarian regimes around the world, there is growing interest in explain­ing these processes of change. This article follows the tradition of the social sciences in striving to understand the social mechanisms of motivational structures of the self in interaction with societal contexts. The author draws on the qualitative contributions to the studies on fascism by the Berkeley University Group, published in 1950 as ‘The Authoritarian Personality’ by Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson and R. Nevitt Sanford (1950). This article analyses the quali­tative sections of the Study presented by Else Frenkel-Brunswik and compares these with the results of selected studies on resisters. Based on this analysis, the article discusses the results of the com­parison and the relevance of Frenkel-Brunswik’s contribution, as well as the implications for further research.