question for sociologists

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

> A question for any sociologists that might be on the list. 
> You can reply off-list if you'd like.
> 
> Do you know of a social theory that identifies the tendency 
> of subordinates to tell their superiors what they - the 
> superiors, that is - want to hear? (As opposed to telling 
> them the truth.)
> 
> I once saw this referred to as "the leader and his 
> echo,"sreferring to subordinates who shield the leader from 
> factual information for fear of recrimination. Surely this 
> has another name. (viz. Peter Principle, etc.)
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Brian

What comes to mind is the authoritarian personality theory proposed by
Adorno et al.  The argument goes as follows: people raised in
authoritarian families subservience to authority figures (rather than
adherence to principles) learn a strategy that can win them favors and
spare them from capricious wrath of authority figures.  That strategy
has two main components: rigid adherence to conventional norms and
conscpicuous defernece to authority (cf.  Else Frenkel-Brunswick,
Parents and Childhood as Seen through the Interviews, in Adorno et al.,
_The Authoritarian Personality_  vol. 1, pp. 337 ff. - which despite its
Freudian boilerplate has solid empirical base).

Wojtek