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

Abstract

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.