AUTHORITARIAN AND TOTALITARIAN PERSONALITY (PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS)

Abstract

The problem of an authoritarian and totalitarian personality was actively discussed in the middle and second half of the 20th century in an attempt to understand the reasons for the coming to power of the totalitarian Nazi regime in Germany. In spite of the fact that the phenomena of authoritarianism and totalitarianism were studied in detail in the 20th century, this topic has not lost its relevance since the beginning of the 21st century was marked by a new turn of opposition to liberal and anti-democratic ideologies.
The article presents the results of studies of authoritarian personality, conducted in foreign and domestic psychology. The basic concepts of a totalitarian and authoritarian personality are analyzed. The idea that totalitarian societies produce a special type of personality, which subsequently contributes to the reproduction of the totalitarian type of social structure, is argued. The data on test material for conducting empirical researches to determine the level of authoritarianism of a person is generalized. A secondary comparative analysis of the results of modern scientific researches on the level of authoritarianism of the individual in the Ukrainian society was conducted. The main factors influencing the level of authoritarianism of the individual are singled out.
It is proved that the problem of authoritarian personality in Ukrainian psychological studies is still poorly understood. There is a need to study this personal characteristic in different social strata, as well as in conducting cross-cultural research; in the differentiation of persistent authoritarian character traits in contrast to the authoritarian ways of perception and behavior that arise in connection with the current actual personal or social situation.