Humble and Kind: Cultural Humility as a Buffer of the Association between Social Dominance Orientation and Prejudice

Emilio Paolo Visintin,Marika Rullo

doi:10.3390/soc11040117

Emilio Paolo Visintin, Marika Rullo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/soc11040117

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Abstract

With the rise of prejudice and discrimination against ethnic and immigrant minorities, strategies to reduce prejudice and discrimination, and to counteract the impact of intolerant, anti-egalitarian ideologies, are needed. Here we focused on cultural humility, i.e., the ability to have a humble and other-oriented approach to others’ cultural backgrounds, resulting from self-examination and critical thinking about structural privileges and inequalities. In this research we proposed that cultural humility might attenuate the effects of intolerant, anti-egalitarian ideologies such as social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) on negative intergroup attitudes and perceptions. In a correlational study conducted in Italy, we found that cultural humility moderated the associations between SDO and prejudice toward immigrants, as well as between SDO and perceptions of threat posed by immigrants. Specifically, the associations of SDO with prejudice and threat were lower among respondents with high cultural humility compared to respondents with low cultural humility. Conversely, cultural humility did not moderate the effects of RWA on prejudice and threat. Findings are discussed considering the motivations underlying prejudice of high-SDO and high-RWA individuals, and proposing cultural humility training to foster positive intergroup relations.

Highlights

Despite growing ethnic and cultural diversity and opportunities for intergroup contact, current day societies are characterized by prejudice and discrimination against social minorities such as immigrants and refugees
In a correlational study conducted in Italy, we tested whether cultural humility could shapeIn associations between and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)
H1, we shape associations between social dominance orientation (SDO) and RWA on the one hand, and prejudice toward immifound that the associations of with prejudice and with threat were lower among pargrants and perceived threat posed by immigrants on the other hand

Summary

Introduction

Despite growing ethnic and cultural diversity and opportunities for intergroup contact, current day societies are characterized by prejudice and discrimination against social minorities such as immigrants and refugees. These phenomena might be exacerbated by the rise of anti-immigration stances in political debate and by the ongoing economic and health crisis. We focused on cultural humility, i.e., the ability to keep an other-oriented, humble approach when encountering people with a different cultural background [1]. While individuals differ in their cultural humility levels, cultural humility can be successfully trained, e.g., [2,3]. Its role for the promotion of positive intergroup attitudes could be crucial to reach a tolerant and egalitarian society

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