Authoritarian
One of the greatest handicaps suffered by prejudice people is the tendency to believe those in authority are unequivocally right, there is an answer for everything. Gordon Allport writes,
“Highly prejudiced children tend to believe there is only one right way to do anything.”
“Out of their longing for definiteness, for safety and for authority comes a constrictedness in thinking. Where there is no order they impose it. When new solutions are called for, they cling to tried and tested habits. Wherever possible, they latch onto what is familiar, safe, simple and definite.”
The link between prejudice and love for authority is so strong sociologists find measures of an authoritarian personality also describe the prejudiced. Matched descriptions are people often raised to see parents as absolute rulers. They saw themselves as obedient subjects who dared not question or challenge the wisdom of their superiors. Though children naturally long for certainty, a strict authoritarian environment restricts them with absolutes that are intellectually and emotionally debilitating.
Teaching Tolerance
Sara Bullard
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