Authoritarian personality

The 1950 classic Authoritarian Personality (Studies in Prejudice) by Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel J. Levinson, Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno, and R. Nevitt Sanford describes a set of character traits related to acceptance of authoritarian doctrines. Concern for convention and conformity distinguish the theorized personality.

The leftist authors' work became widely accepted but was limited by what some saw as an outdated concern with fascism. Authoritarian personality traits were believed to make a person prone to accept fascist authority. The traits were theorized to have originated with a domineering, unsympathetic parent.