Authoritarianism and social status of former members of the Waffen-SS and SS and of the Wehrmacht. Research data.

Personality Psychology

Authors(s) / Creator(s)

Fahrenberg, Jochen
Steiner, John M.

Abstract

The research project can be traced back to Else Frenkel-Brunswik’s suggestion to also survey Germans using the Fascism (F)-Scale. Authoritarian and anti-democratic attitudes should be able to be demonstrated particularly distinctly in former members of the SS (and the Waffen-SS). For comparison, former members of the Wehrmacht were considered. Although this dataset had hardly been regarded, it is - as Meloen (1993, S. 52, S. 68) determined - of outstanding importance to the validity of the F-Scale.
Questionnaires filled out by 229 members of the former Waffen-SS and SS as well as by 202 members of the Wehrmacht between 1962 and 1966 were analyzed in a an initial paper (Steiner & Fahrenberg, 1979), mainly with regard to the F-Scale and several sociobiographical traits. Thirty years after the initial publication, a reanalysis of the questionnaire material, which was more comprehensive and employed improved methods of analysis, was presented (Steiner & Fahrenberg, 2000). Besides various methodological improvements, the confirmation and validation of the originally reported group differences using an exact matching technique is of particular importance. Formerly, these results were confounded with sociodemographic traits such as schooling, occupational class and military rank.

F-Scale
In the reanalysis, the Waffen-SS and SS group has a much significantly higher mean on the F-Scale (M = 90.15, SD = 11.33) as compared to the Wehrmacht group (M = 77.96, SD = 18.43) t (310) = 8.00, p< .0001, whereby the valid N equal N =226 and N = 194 respectively. The effect size of this difference in mean value may be interpreted as medium to large according to Cohen’s terminology (Steiner & Fahrenberg, 2000).

Statistical Twins
Beginning with the Wehrmacht group, statistical twins from the Waffen-SS and SS group with the same sociodemographic trait combinations were selected. Even after the step-by-step formation of statistical twins, the group differences in attitude remained highly significant. The findings on the higher value on the F-Scale and the higher index for war decorations proved to be robust as well (Steiner & Fahrenberg, 2000).

Summary
The following characteristic trait pattern could be shown for the former members of the Waffen-SS and SS, when compared to the members of the Wehrmacht: authority-oriented, conformist and obedient, intolerant, narrow-minded and rigid, potentially latently hostile. Even twenty years after the end of the war and approx. twenty-five years after these men volunteered or were recruited, typical traits exist, pointing to relatively stable dispositions (Steiner & Fahrenberg, 2000).
The reanalysis from the year 2000 constituted a contentual enhancement, through which the reliability of the results could also be increased, by means of better controlled statistical methods.

Persistent Identifier

https://doi.org/10.5160/psychdata.srjn66ei02

Year of Publication

2011

Funding

Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung

Citation

Fahrenberg, J. & Steiner, J. M. (2011). Authoritarianism and social status of former members of the Waffen-SS and SS and of the Wehrmacht. Research data. (Version 1.0.0) [Data and Documentation]. Trier: Research Data Center at ZPID. https://doi.org/10.5160/psychdata.srjn66ei02

Study Description

Research Questions/Hypotheses:

The central hypothesis is that the former members of the Waffen-SS and SS would exhibit higher fascist values. Other hypotheses draw from settings and features that were additionally examined.

Research Design:

Partially Standardized Survey Instrument (provides question formulation; open answer format); single measurement

Measurement Instruments/Apparatus:

The questionnaire consists of 2 parts: 21 items of the F scale, which, according to Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson and Sanford (1950) measures the expression of the basic characteristics of fascism, such as authoritarian, antidemocratic attitudes, and a further 27 mostly multifaceted questions (Steiner & Drive Mountain, 2000).
The items of the short form F-scale used here were selected from the item pool so that all 9 areas are represented with relevant items: conventionalism, authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, anti-intraception, superstition and stereotypy, power and toughness, destructiveness and cynicism, projectivity, and sex. To avoid refusals, items that could be considered too personal or threatening, were - at the direction of Retired General Felix Steiner - omitted. The following items were left: numbers 19, 32, 43, 53, 67 of the F-form; 78, 50 of the F-60 form; 2, 6, 9, 13, 18-19, 21, 25-27 , 31, 37-39, 41 of the F-45 form (see Sanford et al. 1950, p 226, 248, 255) (Steiner & driving Berg, 2000). The items were translated by the first author. Response format was scaled from -3 to +3, wherein the center position "0" was not explicitly mentioned or defined.
In addition to socio-biographical questions, the preferred form of government, preference for 1 of 3 properties (loyalty, honor, justice), branch of service, rank, the time point when Hitler's "Mein Kampf" was read, and military decorations (medals for bravery and injury) was also examined. In addition, 3 lists (composers or genres, professions, cities of different countries) were presented to gain any possible indirect evidence of typical attitudes, such as preference for marching music, sympathies for the profession of police officers and soldiers, or aversions to certain cities such as Jerusalem or Moscow. A number of other questions about Nazi ideology, creed, Jews, and reasons for entry into the Waffen-SS were removed from questionnaire at the advice of retired General Steiner to again avoid any refusals to answer questions (Steiner & driving Berg, 2000).

Data Collection Method:

Data collection in the presence of an experimenter

Individual Administration
Paper and Pencil

Data collection in the absence of an experimenter

Mail Survey

Population:

Former members of the Waffen-SS, the SS, and the Wehrmacht

Survey Time Period:

Sample:

Convenience sample; Quota Sample

Gender Distribution:

100% male subjects (n=431)

Age Distribution: 30 years or older

Spatial Coverage (Country/Region/City): Germany

Subject Recruitment:

Recruitment was done through an SS-head section leader and retired Waffen-SS General Felix Steiner, and by enabling the HIAG to contact local HIAG groups. Enclosed was a request to anonymously take the questionnaire, and send them to retired general Steiner in Munich; others were sent directly to the author. That a total of 229 evaluable questionnaires were returned was mainly due to the help of former Waffen-SS commanders and the still relatively strong hierarchical structure of the organization (Steiner & driving Berg, 2000).
Former members of various branches of the Wehrmacht were recruited as a comparison group. Random selection or parallelization of these individuals was not practically feasible. The 202 questionnaires analyzed were also anonymously sent to the author or collected by interested workers in different regions of the Federal Republic with the support of retired General Kurt Zeitzler via the Association of German Soldiers (Steiner & driving Berg, 2000).

Sample Size:

431 individuals

Return/Drop Out:

srjn66ei02_readme.txt

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