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Transforming Our Lives through Self Reflection and Psychology
A psychology professor's collection of lessons fostering self-discovery through online activities, hands-on classroom experiences, engaging lectures, and effective discussion prompts.
Online Activity by Katie Hope Grobman

Personality & Politics of Freedom and Restraint

People long for liberal democracy, but somehow find totalitarianism appealing too? Why would Hitler and Stalin emerge with enthusiastic support? Are people on the right wing and left wing similarly susceptible? | Psychology Key Concepts: Right Wing Authoritarianism; Left Wing Authoritarianism

People long for liberal democracy, but somehow also find totalitarianism appealing? Sometimes horrendous leaders, like Hitler and Stalin, emerge with enthusiastic support from the people. Why? Is there something about our attitudes, mindsets, or personalities that find authoritarianism appealing. And, if so, are people on the right wing and left wing similarly susceptible?

🕰️ Estimating Time
🤸‍♀️ Activity (new tab): 13 to 26 minutes
📓 Reading (below): # to # minutes
You can try this activity anytime! This page is holding space for a little essay to help make sense of your results. But I haven’t quite finished yet. If you already know the material, you might still find the activity useful on its own. I’m sharing these pieces one by one, hoping they might help in small, good ways. Thanks for waiting with me. 💛
Margaret Hamilton original 1969 black and white photo standing with her Appolo code
A Picture Representing the Activity
with possibly additional information here
STOP
Please complete the activity before you continue reading; your certificate of completion links back here so while reading you can learn about what your results mean!

Start the Activity!
A quote at least kinda' related to the activity, creating a space before the reading about the activity
Person, Source of the quote
Rough Draft of Activity - What it Means
I originally created online activities with individualized results for my Psychology students. I'm creating versions online, accessible to everyone, with essays helping you interpret what your results mean. This activity works! I just haven't written the essay yet. In the meantime, Professors and teachers might like to use the activity and interpret results with their students.

View Rough Draft Materials

Additional Information

Uneasy Feelings about Your Results?
Please remember your results with any activity are not who you are. Your results are a 'snapshot' of a moment when you did an activity. It's just one measure, a single thread, of the many strands of who you are. Any result is a guess with statistical error. And it's possible the measure is flawed in a way so it doesn't work for you. Please do not think of your results as definitive dogma. Instead they're a starting point for our self reflection. Please keep in mind too, self-reflection can feel uncomfortable. "Bad" feelings are not actually bad. They're information. So, even if your activity result is inaccurate and flawed, you might ask yourself what your feeling is trying to tell you? Trusted teachers, friends, and therapists can be helpful. I wrote an essay elaborating with concrete examples how we can appreciate uneasy feelings about our activity results.

Scholarly Information?
You're welcome to use Copernican Revolution activities and essays for your thesis and studies. Having information about scholarly aspects like psychometric data, activity design details, and norm calculations may help. The primary focus of my essays is connecting educated laypersons with psychology. To help people like you, with advanced academic interests, I add an appendix with each activity.
Citation

Grobman, K. H. (2020). Essay/Activity Title. CopernicanRevolution.org

Citation date reflects activity creation; essays are continually improved.
Margaret Hamiliton standing beside stacks of her Appolo code from floor to her height.