Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism: Additive and Interactive Effects

The additive and interactive effects of Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) were examined using 16 independent samples of New Zealand European participants ( N =  2,164). Consistent with Duckitt's (2001) Dual Process Model, SDO and RWA displayed strong additive effects across various domains of intergroup-related attitude, including measures of racism, sexism, homosexual prejudice, and ethnic and religious ingroup identification. In each of these five domains, meta-analysis indicated that the statistical interaction of SDO and RWA accounted for an average of less than .001% variance in addition to their linear combination. It is concluded that the association between SDO and various discriminatory attitudes and beliefs is only extremely weakly dependent on RWA, and vice-versa, suggesting that these two ideological attitudes are primarily additive, rather than interactive, in nature.     

Big-Five personality prospectively predicts Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism

A full cross-lagged panel design examined the bidirectional effects of the Big-Five personality dimensions on Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) over 9 months (N = 190 undergraduates). Consistent with the Dual Process Cognitive-Motivational Model, SDO and RWA exhibited markedly different personality bases. Low Agreeableness predicted change in the motivational goal for group-based dominance and superiority (SDO), whereas Openness to Experience predicted change in the motivational goal for social cohesion and collective security (RWA). Extending previous longitudinal research, this study indicates that the effect of personality on ideology is unidirectional, as RWA and SDO did not predict reciprocal prospective change in broad-bandwidth personality. These findings are consistent with a model in which relatively stable broad-bandwidth personality traits shape ideological attitudes over even relatively short time periods, and not the reverse.     

Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation: Relationships With Various Forms of Racism

Previous research revealed that right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are strongly related to racism. However, this line of inquiry neglected to study these relationships for various forms of racism. In Study 1, it was found in a Flemish heterogeneous adult sample ( N = 146) that RWA and SDO bore about equally strong relationships with biological racism, symbolic racism, ethnocentrism, and aversive racism. Study 2 revealed in a heterogeneous adult sample ( N = 176), also administered in Flanders (Belgium), that RWA was positively related to both subtle and blatant prejudice, whereas SDO was positively related only to blatant prejudice. Moreover, RWA differentiates better between different types of racists composed on the basis of scores on the racism dimensions. The implications of these results for RWA- and SDO-based prejudice are discussed.     

Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation in a Canadian Military Sample

The Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) was administered to 1,060 male and 305 female soldiers from combat support and combat service support units in the U.S. Army. Eighty-four percent of women and 74% of men experienced at least 1 of the behaviors listed in the SEQ during the previous year. However, only 30% of women and 8% of men acknowledged having been sexually harassed in the same time period. Men who experienced SEQ behaviors were less likely to acknowledge harassment than women who experienced these behaviors. The 3 SEQ subscales—gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and coercion—were examined as predictors of organizational commitment, turnover wish, the perception of sexual harassment as a personal and work-unit problem, and as predictors of acknowledged harassment. The more serious behaviors were more likely to be acknowledged as harassment than the milder behaviors when the type of behavior was defined as either present or absent. On the other hand, when milder behaviors occurred frequently, they were the main predictors of the perception of sexual harassment as a personal and work-unit problem. Sexual harassment predicted turnover wish and Army commitment for male soldiers only.     

The Correlation Between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation: The Moderating Effects of Political and Religious Identity

In a secondary analysis performed on a representative sample of the Italian population (N = 887), we examined the correlation between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO), analyzing the moderating effect exerted on such correlation by political interest and religion importance. RWA and SDO showed a positive, significant correlation (r = .38), moderated by political interest (which heightened it) and religion importance (which lowered it). Limits, implications, and possible developments of the research are discussed.     

Effects of Dangerous and Competitive Worldviews on Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation over a Five-Month Period

The cross-lagged effects of dangerous and competitive social worldviews on Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) were examined over a five-month period ( N   =  165). Analyses indicated that the motivational goal for group-based dominance and superiority indexed by SDO changed as a function of the degree to which the social world was perceived as a competitive place characterized by inequality and resource scarcity. The motivational goal for ingroup conformity and collective security indexed by RWA, in contrast, changed as a function of the degree to which the social world was perceived as a dangerous and threatening place prone to high levels of crime and immoral behavior. These findings are consistent with the causal pathways between social worldviews and ideological attitudes predicted by Duckitt's (2001 ) model of the dual motivational and cognitive processes underlying prejudice. An unexpected reciprocal effect in which RWA predicted longitudinal change in dangerous worldview was also identified, suggesting that the relationship between these two constructs may be more complex than previously hypothesized.     

Alienation and empathy as mediators of the relation between Social Dominance Orientation,Right-Wing Authoritarianism and expressions of racism and sexism

Prior research has established a link between Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), empathy, and generalized measures of prejudice. Whether empathy functions as a mediator for more specific forms of prejudice has not been studied. Furthermore, alienation and its role in predicting prejudice have been given little attention in the literature. Our results found that empathy functioned as a mediator for SDO, but only for sexism, not racism. Alienation was found to act as a mediator between SDO and both racism and sexism. The relation between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and racism and sexism was not mediated by alienation.     

Attitudes Toward Women's Rights: Relationships with Social Dominance Orientation and Political Group Identities

This research assessed the extent to whichattitudes toward women's rights are predicted by socialdominance orientation (SDO) and the political groupidentities socialist and capitalist. Respondents were 181 Australian undergraduates (54 males, 127females), most of whom were of European descent. Theresults of multiple regression analyses suggested thatSDO was the most consistent predictor of negative attitudes, although the extent to which itunderpins attitudes toward women's rights was found tovary for men and women: for men it was the onlysignificant predictor. Support was also found for theideological asymmetry hypothesis. The results are discussedwith reference to social dominance theory.     

The impact of Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism on the relation between Person–Organization fit with commitment, satisfaction, and turnover intentions

This research examined whether Person–Organization fit would mediate the relationships of Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism with the outcome variables of turnover intentions, satisfaction, and commitment. The study was conducted with a military sample and found that both Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism predict greater satisfaction, continuance and normative commitment and that these relationships were mediated by perceived Person–Organization fit. Furthermore, this relation was moderated by the interaction between Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism such that lower scores on Social Dominance Orientation increased the relation between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and P–O fit while higher scores on Social Dominance Orientation lowered that relation.     

The Relationship Between Religious Orientation,Right-Wing Authoritarianism,and Implicit Sexual Prejudice

The relationship between intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientations, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and implicit and explicit attitudes toward homosexual individuals were examined within a sample of predominantly Protestant college students in the United States. Implicit attitudes were measured with the Implicit Association Test, a computer program that recorded reaction times as participants categorized symbols (of heterosexual and homosexual individuals) and adjectives (good or bad words). Participants displayed fairly negative implicit and explicit attitudes toward homosexual individuals (i.e., sexual prejudice). Intrinsic religious orientation uniquely predicted increased explicit sexual prejudice (when extrinsic, quest, and impression management were statistically controlled), and RWA appeared to mediate this effect. In contrast, the positive relationship between intrinsic religion and implicit sexual prejudice did not disappear when controlling for RWA. Although RWA seemed to be related to self-reports of prejudice, intrinsic religious orientation was uniquely related to automatic negative attitudes toward homosexual individuals.     

Explaining Conservative Beliefs and Political Preferences: A Comparison of Social Dominance Orientation and Authoritarianism

The present study compares the predictive validity of the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) scale and various measures of authoritarianism, conservative beliefs, and political preferences. In accordance with previous studies, SDO and authoritarianism independently predicted conservative beliefs. Political preferences and extreme right-wing voting was best predicted by SDO. Unlike previous research, high positive correlations between SDO and the various authoritarianism scales were found. The relationship between SDO and authoritarianism is discussed.     

Values,Right‐Wing Authoritarianism,Social Dominance Orientation,and Ambivalent Attitudes Toward Women

This study related hostile and benevolent attitudes toward women (HS and BS) as measured by the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) to 10 value types from the Schwartz Value Survey, right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), and social dominance orientation (SDO). Students (N = 170) from an Australian university completed the scales. The results showed gender differences in the importance of power values, HS, BS, RWA, SDO, and in some of the correlations. HS and BS were positively correlated with power and security values, and negatively correlated with universalism and benevolence values after controlling for gender. RWA and SDO were related to distinct value patterns with some overlap, and they partially mediated relations between value importance and HS and BS.     

The Structure and Sources of Right‐wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation

Right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) are widely used constructs in research on social and political attitudes. This study examined their hierarchical and correlative structure (across sexes, generations and rater perspectives), as well as how genetic and environmental factors may contribute to individual differences in them (using different rater perspectives and nuclear twin family data). We found a substantive common aspect (beyond shared artificial variance arising from socially desirable responding) underlying both RWA and SDO: aggression against subordinate groups. We discussed how this aspect could help to explain the commonly reported correlation between the two concepts in Western countries. Estimates of genetic and environmental components in RWA and SDO based on self‐reports were quite comparable with those based on peer reports. When controlling for error variance and taking assortative mating into account, individual differences in RWA were primarily due to genetic contributions including genotype–environment correlation, whereas variance in SDO was largely attributable to environmental sources shared and not shared by twins. The findings are discussed in terms of the utility of RWA and SDO as basic constructs to describe individual differences in social attitudes and with respect to the different patterns of genetic and environmental influences that underlie them. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Social Dominance Orientation, Authoritarianism, and Support for Intergroup Violence Between the Middle East and America

Social dominance theory has generally posited that terror and intergroup violence can be explained in terms of social dominance struggles. Social dominance theorists have described terror mostly as a tool for maintaining intergroup hierarchies in society (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Although implications of the theory suggest that terror may also be used by lower status groups as a tool for the resistance of domination by higher status groups, this prediction heretofore has not been empirically demonstrated. Data from two samples, one in the United States and one in Lebanon, were collected regarding attitudes toward terrorism and intergroup violence. The results show that the American sample demonstrates the typical patterns of social dominance such that those who are higher in social dominance orientation tend to support greater violence toward the Middle East. However, the Lebanese sample shows the opposite pattern, such that those who are lower in social dominance orientation tend to support violence toward the West. These results suggest that (1) support for terrorism among Middle East citizens is a project of counterdominance, and, more broadly, that (2) the relationship between social dominance orientation and support for violence depends on the dynamics of the conflict and the status of the perpetrators.     

The Ideological Foundations of Economic Protectionism: Authoritarianism,Social Dominance Orientation,and the Moderating Role of Political Involvement

Even though economic globalization and foreign trade are major topics in the political discourse of most societies and negative attitudes toward international trade are prevalent, there is a lack of research investigating the ideological roots of protectionist preferences from a psychological perspective. In the present research, we examined the implications of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) for trade attitudes. Using data from two nationally representative samples from the United States (Study 1) and Germany (Study 2), we found that RWA predicted protectionist attitudes above and beyond economic self-interest. Furthermore, we found that the relationship between RWA and opposition to international trade was moderated by political involvement. The association of SDO with protectionist attitudes was inconsistent across the two studies and was not moderated by political involvement. Taken together, these results emphasize the importance of basic ideological orientations and the psychological dispositions they reflect in explaining public attitudes toward international trade.     

Authoritarianism,Social Dominance,and Other Roots of Generalized Prejudice

The search for the personological roots of generalized prejudice (or ethnocentrism) began with the authoritarian personality, but in recent years, the twin constructs of right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation have been widely treated as the dual processes that lead to generalized prejudice. However, studies conducted for this article show that other constructs, notably empathy and principled moral reasoning, contribute important additional variance. Whereas authoritarianism and social dominance positively predict generalized prejudice, empathy and principled moral reasoning are related negatively to it. For the final study, a structural model of these relationships was tested. To fully understand individual differences in the propensity for generalized prejudice, it is necessary to move beyond the dual processes union of authoritarianism and social dominance.     

The Gender Belief System,Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation,and Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

We tested hypotheses drawn from three theoretical perspectives—gender belief system, authoritarianism, and social dominance—concerning heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Data from 122 male and 131 female heterosexual college students with mostly White, middle-class backgrounds indicated that constructs postulated by all three perspectives played important roles in predicting attitudes: Gender differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay men were mediated by social dominance orientation and gender-role beliefs, indicating that gender role beliefs may act as legitimizing myths to justify antigay attitudes. Authoritarianism had both a direct relationship to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and an indirect relationship mediated by gender-role beliefs.     

Religiosity as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

In this study, the author examines the association between authoritarianism, social dominance orientation (SDO), and religiosity. She tested these associations in three sociopolitical contexts (i.e., Italy, Finland, and Estonia) based on representative samples. In all three countries, religious people were found to be more authoritarian and less socially dominant. Dallago, Cima, Roccato, Ricolfi, and Mirisola (2008) showed that religiosity decreases the correlation between SDO and authoritarianism in Italy. Their results are replicated in this study, using a more advanced measure of religiosity. The author also obtained cross-cultural confirmation in Finland. In both countries, she found hardly any relation between authoritarianism and SDO at high levels of religiosity; moderate relations were found at moderate levels of religiosity, and strong associations were found amongst nonreligious respondents. The association between authoritarianism and SDO was not influenced by religiosity in Estonia, a country with a history of communism and a high secularization rate.     

Social Dominance Orientation and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism: Additive and Interactive Effects on Political Conservatism

It is commonly accepted that social dominance orientation (SDO) and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) are potent unique predictors of a variety of prejudice and prejudice‐related constructs. However, contrary to some predictions, there has been little evidence that these constructs interact to produce this outcome—they appear to be additive but not interactive in their prediction of prejudice. We extend the interaction hypothesis to consideration of another broadly relevant construct—political ideology. Drawing from 14 independent New Zealand–based samples, we show, through meta‐analysis and multilevel random coefficient modelling, that SDO and RWA additively and interactively predict levels of political conservatism operationalised in a variety of ways. Specifically, both constructs are associated with increasing political conservatism, and the lowest levels of conservatism (or highest levels of political liberalism) are found in those lowest in both SDO and RWA.     

Gender Essentialism,Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation,and Filial Piety as Predictors for Transprejudice in Chinese People

Sex Roles - Although research on prejudice against gender and sexual minorities has been increasing in recent years, little attention has been paid to predictors for transprejudice and its...