Intergroup Hierarchy Research Articles

Towards assiminationalism? The right-wing populists’ transformative storytelling on an ethnic minority in Estonia

ABSTRACT While right-wing populists are typically antagonizing the ethnic Other, there are situations where select ethnic minority groups are depicted in a more favourable light or even incorporated among the People the right-wing populists claim to represent. This article aims to uncover, how right-wing populists utilize storytelling to create a favourable association between the conservative values of an ethnic minority and the anti-gender and xenophobic discourse of the far right. Focused on the Estonian right-wing populist party EKRE, we introduce the concept of assiminationalism to explain, how the party negotiates its nativist and xenophobic stances towards the Russian minority with the mutual conservative values and aversion toward gendered and racialized minorities. Even the seemingly more inclusionary stories are told primarily from the vantage point of prioritizing the majority rights, by creating in-group and inter-group hierarchies, appealing to a sense of shame and yearning to belong among the Russian minority, and by depoliticizing cultural rights issues. This suggests that while the rhetoric of right-wing populists regarding specific ethnic minorities may become more moderate, it does not entail a clean break with their nativist and xenophobic past.

Disadvantaged group members are prouder of their group when using the language of the dominant group compared to their native language.

In ethnically and linguistically diverse societies, disadvantaged groups often face pressures to acquire and speak the advantaged group's language to achieve social inclusion and economic mobility. This work investigates how using the advantaged group's language affects disadvantaged group members' in-group pride and collective self-esteem, relative to using their native language. Across six experimental studies involving Palestinian citizens of Israel (total N = 1,348), we test two competing hypotheses: Disadvantaged group members may experience greater in-group pride when using a) their native language, due to its emotional significance (the nativity hypothesis), or b) the language of the advantaged group, due to activation of habituated compensatory responses to dominance relations (the identity enhancement hypothesis). We found that respondents reported significantly higher in-group pride when responding to a Hebrew survey when compared to performing the same activity in Arabic (Studies 1a and 1b), regardless of whether the researchers administering the survey were identified as Jewish or Arab (Studies 2a and 2b). Study 3 replicated this effect while employing the "bogus pipeline" technique, suggesting the pride expression was authentic, not merely driven by social desirability. Finally, Study 4 (pre-registered) examined additional measures of positive regard for the in-group, finding that participants described their group more positively in an attribute selection task, and reported greater collective self-esteem, when surveyed in Hebrew, rather than in Arabic. Taken together, these findings suggest that language use influences disadvantaged group members' perceptions and feelings concerning their group when those languages are associated with relative position in an intergroup hierarchy.

MORPHOGENETIC CONSEQUENCES OF SHORT-TERM HEAT STRESS IN SHORT- AND LONG-LIVED LINES OF THE HOUSE FLY (MUSCA DOMESTICA L.): WING GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRY

The morphogenetic consequences of short-term heat stress (SHS) were studied in two housefly lines that were massively selected for lifespan based on assessing the variability of the adult wing using geometric morphometry methods. Significant differences in wing size and shape were revealed between control and impact groups of different sexes in the Shg (short-lived) and Lg (long-lived) lines. The CTS effect manifested itself in an increase in the size of the wing and a directional change in its shape. The intergroup hierarchy of sex and stress-induced differences is expressed equally in both strains of flies. The range of linear differences is significantly higher than gender differences, which in turn are higher than the level of stress-induced ones. The instability of the adult wing development (Vm) of the Shg line is significantly higher than that of the Lg line, and higher in all groups of females, but in most cases significantly lower in impact groups (taking into account the increase in size, the latter may be associated with the effect of hormesis). It is hypothesized that the directed morphogenetic effects of CTS are based on hidden species-specific modifications, the appearance of which in the phenotype is caused by stress-induced epigenetic rearrangements of the genome, causing similar morphological changes in the wing in groups of males and females of adults of both lines. The phenotypic plasticity of lines during selection for different life spans and changes caused by CTC directly indicate the reality of stress-induced rapid morphogenetic rearrangements during a sharp change in environmental conditions.

Favoring Inequalities and Mind-Reading: Social Dominance Orientation Relates to Poor Mentalizing.

Although studies have so far investigated social dominance orientation (SDO) in relation to its association with prejudice and discrimination toward outgroups, it is not known whether SDO's link with poor intergroup relations might be underlined by specific socio-cognitive factors such as reduced mind-reading motivation (MRM) and poor mind-reading performance. The present study tested whether endorsement of SDO is associated with decreased MRM and mind-reading accuracy toward both ingroup and outgroup targets. We randomly assigned one hundred and 20 Turkish university students (Mage = 22.02) into two target groups for mind-reading, Turkish ingroup (N = 60) and Syrian outgroup (N = 60), and asked them to infer minds of either ingroup or outgroup members depending on their target group. Participants also reported their level of MRM and SDO through questionnaires. When the target was a Turkish ingroup member, SDO negatively and directly predicted mind-reading, when the target was an outgroup member, however, higher SDO indirectly predicted lower mind-reading through reduced MRM. These results pointed that favoring intergroup hierarchies relates to poor understanding of others' mental states although the mechanism of the relation changes depending on the group membership of the target.

Stratification economics in the land of persistent inequalities

AbstractStratification economics has emerged as a field that puts historically and institutionally determined intergroup hierarchies at the forefront of distributive analysis. However, most of the existing theoretical and empirical literature has focused on studying the US stratification regime, limiting the potential application of this analytical framework to other geographies. This paper applies the theoretical framework of stratification economics to analyze the Mexican distributive regime. In the process, we show that expanding the regional focus of stratification economics requires incorporating several insights from other traditions of stratification analysis. Furthermore, we show that a stratification economics approach overcomes several pitfalls of more traditional approaches to analyzing the Mexican distributive regime, such as the human capital approach that anchored several public policy interventions deployed at the beginning of the XXIst century.

A Leader Who Sees the World as I Do: Voters Prefer Candidates Whose Statements Reveal Matching Social‐Psychological Attitudes

Politicians are increasingly able to communicate their values, attitudes, and concerns directly to voters. Yet little is known about which of these signals resonate with voters and why. We employ a discrete choice experiment to investigate whether and which social‐psychological attitudes predict how adult British voters respond to corresponding attitudinal signals communicated by candidates in hypothetical social media posts. For all attitudes studied, covering social feelings (trust, collective nostalgia), social perceptions (nationalism, populist sentiment), and social commitments (national identification, authoritarianism, egalitarianism), we find that participants are much more likely to vote for candidates who signal proximity to their own attitudinal position and less likely for candidates who signal opposing views. The strongest effects were observed for national identification, authoritarianism, and egalitarianism, indicating the importance of commitment to a shared group and to particular principles for distributing power and resources within and between groups. We further demonstrate that social‐psychological attitudes are not acting as mere proxies for participants' past votes or left–right ideology. Our results extend adaptive followership theory to incorporate preferences concerning intragroup coordination and intergroup hierarchy, while highlighting the social‐psychological dynamics of political communication that may transcend the concerns of particular election cycles.

Social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism across the adult lifespan: An examination of aging and cohort effects.

Social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) are foundational constructs in intergroup relations, yet their development across the lifespan is poorly understood. The few studies on the topic demonstrate that age positively correlates with both SDO and RWA. However, it is unclear whether this association is due to (a) normative aging, (b) generational differences associated with the period in which one was born and raised, or (c) a combination of these processes. This study estimates a series of cohort-sequential latent growth models to examine change due to both aging and cohort effects using 11 annual waves of longitudinal panel data collected from a nationwide random sample of adults (Ns = 61,858-61,862). Mean levels of SDO and RWA both trended upward across the adult lifespan, although this pattern was more marked for RWA. Cohort effects also emerged for both constructs and were again more pronounced for RWA. Contextual factors thus appear to influence authoritarianism more than they impact the preference for intergroup hierarchy. Similar trends emerged when differentiating birth cohorts by gender and ethnic majority status. Age and cohort effects for generalized prejudice among an ethnic majority group were also assessed (N = 47,955), revealing that prejudice declined in early adulthood but began to stabilize in middle age. This is the first large-scale study to document how SDO, RWA, and generalized prejudice change over the adult lifespan while also examining trends associated with the period in which a person was born and socialized. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Social dominance orientation predicts civil and military intelligence analysts’ utilitarian responses to ethics-of-intelligence dilemmas

What is the real ethical framework of an intelligence analyst? We addressed this question by presenting a group of civil and military intelligence analysts (N = 41), and a control group of non-professionals (N = 41), with a set of dilemmas depicting intelligence agents facing the decision whether to violate a deontological rule where that would benefit their work (ethics-of-intelligence dilemmas). Participants judged how much violating the rule was acceptable. Next, we measured participants’ individual differences in social dominance orientation (using the Social Dominance Orientation scale which measures the proclivity to endorse intergroup hierarchy and anti-egalitarianism), their deontological and utilitarian response tendencies (using classical moral dilemmas), and how much they value rule conformity, traditions, and safety and stability in the society (using the Value Survey). A multiple regression analysis revealed that, among all the factors, only social dominance significantly helped explain variability in intelligence analysts’ but not non-professionals’ resolutions of the ethics-of-intelligence dilemmas. Specifically, social dominance positively predicted the tendency to judge violating the deontological rule acceptable, possibly suggesting that analysts who show a stronger proclivity to desire their country or company to prevail over others are also more lenient toward deontological violations if these result in a greater good for the state or the company. For the first time in the open literature, we elucidated some key aspects of the real ethics of intelligence.

Полифункциональная модель поведения современного слушателя

The article focuses on strengthening positions of a modern listener in the context of the development of academic musical art. Since the end of the last century, there has been a surge in scientific interest in studying the audience of classical music. Listening experience is being analyzed on an equal basis with composition and performing. Interdisciplinary researches touch upon historical practices, semantic aspects and communication characteristics. However, today the very nature of listeners’ relationship with art is changing, too. The listener becomes an active participant in musical events, playing new roles — that of a musical critic, manager, expert, and even a co-author and performer of works. The formation of new listener’s functions in addition to the perception of music requires a revision of the audience evaluation factor, now based only on the sophistication of the “listening function”. The issue of justifying a new scheme, which would take into account the positions of all participants in a musical event in relation to each other, is extremely relevant. The public refuses the “vassal” role and steadily strengthens its position in the intergroup hierarchy by choosing new behaviors. While the leitmotif of the musical life of the 20th century was the theme of educating a wide audience of genuine taste and a deep understanding of musical content, today the listeners defend their freedom of choice. It is important to understand the reasons and predict the consequences of the increasing emancipation of not only the experienced listener, but also of the neophyte. Music streaming services make a significant contribution to this process. The growing popularity of two youth subcultures demonstrating a high interest in classical art — Dark Academia and Light Academia — deserves attention too.

The Manager in Intragroup and Intergroup Hierarchies: Managing Hierarchy Across Levels of Analysis

Research on hierarchy within organizations tends to focus on hierarchies of individuals within a group (intragroup hierarchy) or on hierarchies composed of groups, such a race- and gender-based hierarchies (intergroup hierarchy). Although both types of hierarchies impact individuals in organizations, the literatures on intra- and intergroup hierarchy run largely separately without significant cross-fertilization. This is likely to the detriment of both literatures: many ideas fundamental to hierarchy at one level of analysis are virtually or totally underexplored on the other level of analysis, undoubtedly leading to problematic gaps in our theorizing. This panel symposium will engage a group of expert panelists in a formal, moderated discussion of how intra- and intergroup hierarchy research can be integrated. We expect that more integrative theorizing will be a boon to the literature on hierarchy and that it will bolster organizational researchers’ ability to provide actionable recommendations to frontline managers around the globe.

In time, we will simply disappear: Racial demographic shift undermines privileged group members' support for marginalized social groups via collective angst.

The racial demographic shift occurring in many Western countries provides a unique context to study the reactions of a high-power group (White people) to the potential loss of their privileged position in society. Three experiments (N = 77, N = 302, N = 555) conducted in Canada, the US, and the UK showed that White people who are reminded about the ongoing demographic changes and who see race relations as a zero-sum game whereby any gains by minorities must come at the expense of the majority, experience stronger collective angst and, to a lesser extent, fear (but not anger). In turn, collective angst, but not the other negative group-based emotions, fuels their motivation to protect the existing intergroup hierarchy by withdrawing support for progressive social movements and increases anti-immigration sentiments. Downregulating the existential threat experienced by White majorities in the face of a racial demographic shift may be one way to reduce acrimonious behavioral intentions aimed at preserving their place in the social hierarchy.

Correlations between social dominance orientation and political attitudes reflect common genetic underpinnings

A foundational question in the social sciences concerns the interplay of underlying causes in the formation of people's political beliefs and prejudices. What role, if any, do genes, environmental influences, or personality dispositions play? Social dominance orientation (SDO), an influential index of people's general attitudes toward intergroup hierarchy, correlates robustly with political beliefs. SDO consists of the subdimensions SDO-dominance (SDO-D), which is the desire people have for some groups to be actively oppressed by others, and SDO-egalitarianism (SDO-E), a preference for intergroup inequality. Using a twin design (n = 1,987), we investigate whether the desire for intergroup dominance and inequality makes up a genetically grounded behavioral syndrome. Specifically, we investigate the heritability of SDO, in addition to whether it genetically correlates with support for political policies concerning the distribution of power and resources to different social groups. In addition to moderate heritability estimates for SDO-D and SDO-E (37% and 24%, respectively), we find that the genetic correlation between these subdimensions and political attitudes was overall high (mean genetic correlation 0.51), while the environmental correlation was very low (mean environmental correlation 0.08). This suggests that the relationship between political attitudes and SDO-D and SDO-E is grounded in common genetics, such that the desire for (versus opposition to) intergroup inequality and support for political attitudes that serve to enhance (versus attenuate) societal disparities form convergent strategies for navigating group-based dominance hierarchies.

Social and biological intergroup hierarchy beliefs: A cross-cultural comparison between the US and South Korea

The present research investigated social and biological intergroup hierarchy beliefs in the US and South Korea, representative Northern European-heritage and East Asian cultures, respectively. We h...

Social and biological intergroup hierarchy beliefs: A cross-cultural comparison between the US and South Korea

The present research investigated social and biological intergroup hierarchy beliefs in the US and South Korea, representative Northern European-heritage and East Asian cultures, respectively. We hypothesized that individual-orientation (the emphasis on individuals and individual achievements) and group-orientation (the emphasis on groups and efficient functioning of groups) would predict social and biological hierarchy beliefs differently within and between these cultures. As expected, intergroup hierarchy beliefs were stronger in South Korea than in the US, particularly for biological hierarchy beliefs. Multigroup structural equation modeling analyses revealed that group-orientation predicted intergroup hierarchy beliefs across cultures, but more strongly in South Korea than in the US. Also, an emphasis on individual achievements predicted social hierarchy beliefs only in the US, whereas an emphasis on roles/positions within groups predicted social and biological hierarchy beliefs only in South Korea. Results implied that intergroup hierarchy beliefs may be generally associated with group-orientation and the value of competence or efficiency in each culture.

Considering intermediate-status groups in intergroup hierarchies: A theory of triadic social stratification

Considering intermediate-status groups in intergroup hierarchies: A theory of triadic social stratification

Contrasting explanations for status-legitimacy effects based on system justification theory and social identity theory

Three experiments tested two competing hypotheses about the legitimacy of social systems among disadvantaged groups. The first hypothesis was derived from social identity theory, and assumes that perceived legitimacy is positively linked to group interest. The second hypothesis was drawn from system justification theory and states that perceived legitimacy is negatively linked to group interests. In Studies 1 (79 nursing students) and 2 (49 psychology students) participants believed that their in-group had either intermediate status (i.e., a disadvantaged group who might experience some advantages from the hierarchy) or low status in the hierarchy. They rated the legitimacy of general, national health, and intergroup hierarchy systems. Study 3 considered in-group threat, and involved 101 nursing students. The results indicate that perceived legitimacy was generally higher in the intermediate-status condition than in the low-status condition. In-group threat was higher in the low-status condition, and partially mediated the effect of status on system justification. This paper contributes to knowledge about the mechanisms of legitimization of social hierarchies and social systems and suggests that disadvantaged groups are more likely to justify the social hierarchy if they derive some advantages from it. One way in which disadvantaged groups may derive social advantages from the hierarchy is by performing positive downward social comparisons, for example, an intermediate group comparing itself with a group lower in the hierarchy. It is argued that system justification may be used as an identity management strategy to avoid social identity threat.

More for Us or More for Me? Social Dominance as Parochial Egoism

Intergroup interactions allow members of advantaged groups to cooperate with in-group and out-group members alike (universal cooperation), cooperate with in-group members exclusively (parochial cooperation), or withhold cooperation altogether. These behaviors impact the intergroup hierarchy differently; therefore, individuals’ ideological support of intergroup hierarchy may predict their choices among them. Universal cooperation is inherently egalitarian and hence inconsistent with social dominance orientation (SDO). Although parochial cooperation strengthens the in-group relative to the out-group, and hence consistent with SDO, it is unclear to what extent members of advantaged groups higher in SDO are willing to pay the costs associated with participation in parochial cooperation. Studies conducted across three distinct intergroup contexts in the United States and Israel consistently find that SDO coincides with behavioral selfishness, a pattern we label parochial egoism. These findings illuminate a gap between individuals’ ideological worldview and their social behavior and elucidate the motivational meaning of SDO.

Asymmetric intergroup bullying: The enactment and maintenance of societal inequality at work.

What does inequality mean for dysfunctional organizational behaviours, such as workplace bullying? This article argues that workplace bullying can be understood as a manifestation of intergroup dynamics originating beyond the organization. We introduce the construct of asymmetric intergroup bullying: the disproportionate mistreatment of members of low status groups, with the intended effect of enhancing the subordination of that group in society at large. Analysis of data from 38 interviews with public and private sector workers in Turkey depicts a pattern of asymmetric intergroup bullying, undertaken to achieve organizational and broader sociopolitical goals. Respondents reported bullying acts used to get rid of unwanted personnel, with the goal of avoiding severance pay, or of removing supporters of the former government from positions of political and economic influence. Bullying was also described as working towards the dominance of the sociocultural worldview of one political group over another. We discuss asymmetric intergroup bullying as one mechanism through which acute intergroup hierarchy in the broader society corrupts management practice and employee interactions, in turn exacerbating economic inequality along group lines.

Group domination and inequality in context: evidence for the unstable meanings of social dominance and authoritarianism

AbstractBoth social dominance orientation (SDO) and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) are assumed to be general and relatively stable psychological orientations that individuals ‘carry with them’ from context to context, influencing responses to salient forms of intergroup inequality and domination. In two experimental studies we tested the relative stability of SDO (Studies 1 and 2) and RWA (Study 1). That is, we examined whether people who score relatively high on SDO/RWA in one context tend to support intergroup hierarchy and domination in other contexts. To do so, we manipulated the salience of different intergroup relationships before measuring SDO and RWA, and then observed the associations among these constructs and attitudes toward specific intergroup relationships and legitimizing ideologies (support for war, conservatism, heterosexism, and religious fundamentalism). Contrary to the assumption of relative stability, the extent to which SDO and RWA were related to these specific attitudes and ideologies varied markedly depending on the experimental context. These results highlight the contextual basis and meaning of individuals' expressed support for group‐based dominance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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.