Levels Of Social Dominance Orientation Research Articles

Ideological attitudes predicting online hate speech: the differential effects of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation

IntroductionWhile research on online hate speech (OHS) has expanded in recent years, only few studies adopt a theoretical framework to understand how ideological attitudes differentially motivate individuals to engage with OHS. Drawing on the dual-process motivational model of ideology and on previous political psychological research on OHS, this study examines how individual levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) predict the likelihood of producing OHS for online platforms users.MethodsWe used logistic regressions to analyze the survey data from a representative German sample of social media platform users (N = 7,349).ResultsThe analyses indicate that SDO is related with higher odds of producing OHS, while RWA is related with lower odds. After adjusting for socio-economic factors and controlling for alternative predictors, the odd ratios remain significant, indicating that these two ideological attitudes predict online hate speech in different directions.DiscussionThe results show that high-RWA individuals are less likely to engage with OHS, which is explained through their conservative motivation to conform to social norms and maintain social stability. High-SDO individuals are more likely to produce OHS and may use it following their competitive motivation to increase hierarchical relations and improve their social status within society. The findings are discussed taking into consideration the specificities of the German social context, and corroborate and expand previous research. From these subtle but crucial differential effects, relevant implications are drawn for the platform as well as for social and political levels.

Academic Motivation of Students Experiencing Person-Environment Misfit in Social Work Educational Settings: The Role of Social Dominance Orientation.

Interweaving social dominance, person-environment fit, and self-determination theories, the present study sought to understand whether the attrition between students' levels of social dominance orientation and the hierarchy-attenuating function of the social work faculty in which they study may influence students' academic motivational pathways. A total of 221 undergraduate social work students participated in the study and completed a self-report questionnaire. Participants' social dominance orientation, person-environment misfit, and academic intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were measured. Results indicated that students' social dominance orientation was associated with an external rather than an internal regulation of their academic motivation, mediated by their perceived person-environment misfit. For those students who personally support group-based inequalities, exposure to hierarchy-attenuating contexts would lead to regulating their academic behavior toward the pursuit of extrinsic (vs. intrinsic) goals, that is, studying to gain financial benefits and social prestige, in accordance with the pursuit of their beliefs of social dominance.

Intergroup Contact Is Associated with Less Negative Attitude toward Women Managers: The Bolstering Effect of Social Dominance Orientation.

This cross-sectional study examined the intergroup contact hypothesis in the workplace by enrolling 150 Italian employees. Within the framework of social dominance theory, the purpose of this study was to test the assumption that individuals with higher levels of social dominance orientation are more likely to exhibit prejudice against women in managerial positions and benefit more from intergroup contact with a female supervisor. In particular, we found that individuals with higher levels of social dominance orientation exhibited more negative attitudes towards women in manager positions, but this effect only appeared when their superiors were women, as opposed to men. In addition, participants with higher social dominance orientation experienced more positive outcomes from intergroup contact, resulting in less negative attitudes toward women managers, than those with lower social dominance orientation. Overall, these findings yield insights into how intergroup contact affects individuals with prejudice tendencies, indicating that contact with the targeted group (i.e., women in managerial positions) is negatively associated with negative attitudes towards the group, even when the prejudice is driven by social dominance orientation. These results could shed light on new routes to design practical intervention aimed at solving prejudice towards women in leadership roles.

Peer victimization and Internet addiction among adolescents: The role of anger rumination and social dominance orientation.

Internet addiction has garnered growing attention in recent years, and peer victimization plays a major contributor to adolescents' Internet addiction. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms in the association between peer victimization and Internet addiction. Guided by cognitive behavioral model and worldview verification model, this study examined a moderated mediation model in which anger rumination at Time 1 (T1) mediated the association between peer victimization at T1 and Internet addiction at Time 2 (T2), and this mediation effect was moderated by T1 social dominance orientation (SDO). A short-term longitudinal design was adopted, incorporating two measurement occasions (with approximately 6-month intervals). Participants were 2597 adolescents (51.5% male, Mage = 13.9, SD = 0.60) from seven secondary schools in Zhengzhou City, China. All participants were invited to complete the self-reported questionnaires assessing peer victimization, anger rumination, SDO at T1 (December 2015) and Internet addiction at T2 (June 2016), respectively. A short-term longitudinal moderated mediation model was conducted to analyze the association between variables. The results showed that T1 peer victimization was positively associated with T2 Internet addiction in which association was mediated by T1 anger rumination. T1 SDO moderated the associations between T1 peer victimization and T1 anger rumination and this effect was stronger with lower levels of SDO. In terms of gender differences, SDO moderated the associations between peer victimization and anger rumination only for boys. Results highlight that anger rumination is a potential mechanism explaining how peer victimization is related to Internet addiction and that this relation may be moderated by SDO.

Trait awe and integrity violation: Examining the mediating effect of social dominance orientation

Guided by conceptual analyses of awe as a self-transcendent emotion and the small-self hypothesis, we aim to explore the role of trait awe—one's chronic tendency to experience awe—in dampening individuals' violation of integrity through social dominance orientation. Four empirical studies (N = 4034) with cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs were performed. Study 1 (N = 1612) used a set of scales to initially investigate the relationships among trait awe, social dominance orientation, and integrity violation. Study 2 (N = 2027) used a novel contextualized scenario-based measure to capture integrity violation, thereby further testing hypotheses. Study 3 (N = 173) adopted a three-month, two-wave longitudinal design to retest whether trait awe was negatively associated with integrity violation via social dominance orientation. Study 4 (N = 222) employed a moderation-of-process design. Manipulating social dominance orientation showed that it causally mediated the relationship between trait awe and integrity violation. These studies converged to confirm that awe-prone individuals are less inclined to engage in integrity violation due to their lower levels of social dominance orientation. This work not only corroborates the significance of trait awe in dampening integrity violation but also illuminates the underlying mechanism by which trait awe influences integrity violation.

Variations in Women's Attribution of Blame for Sexual Assault.

In the United States, sexual assault (SA) is a significant problem that has adverse psychological impacts on women. Scholarship has shown that when survivors choose to disclose their experiences, the way their networks react has a powerful impact on their well-being, but literature on response to SA disclosure has not extensively explored variation among women, who are likely recipients of these disclosures. This study explored variation among perceptions of and blame attribution for SA within a geographically and politically diverse but primarily White sample of women. Participants were assigned one of four vignettes, each of which described a non-stereotypical SA. The vignettes differed in two ways: (1) the social status of the perpetrator of the assault and (2) the length of time the victim waited to report. Results showed that being older and more politically conservative was associated with assigning less blame to the perpetrator and more blame to the victim, but neither education level nor where the participant lived were linked with blame attribution. While women's own experiences of SA were unrelated to their responses, having a loved one who had experienced SA was associated with less victim blaming. With respect to attitudes, women endorsing higher levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) and sexism also reported higher levels of victim blame and lower levels of perpetrator blame. Further research should explore the role of specific personal experiences and knowledge of others' SA in assignment of blame, investigate the predictors and moderators of SDO, and should extend these findings to more racially/ethnically diverse samples of women.

Fragile Heterosexuality: Do Sexual Minorities also Perceive Heterosexuality as Fragile?

Previous evidence shows that heterosexual people perceive heterosexual status to be more fragile than homosexual status. However, research has not yet investigated whether sexual minorities have similar, or diverging, perceptions of the fragility of sexual orientation. With a sample that included 89 heterosexual and 80 sexual minority participants, we investigated the fragility of heterosexuality using a between-participants design in which participants indicated their agreement with gender neutral statements about the fragility of either heterosexual or homosexual status. Contrary to our expectations we found evidence of Fragile Heterosexuality perceptions regardless of participants’ sexual orientation. Additionally, we explored the potential moderating effects of social-dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism and prejudice against gay/lesbian people on this Fragile Heterosexuality effect. For sexual minority participants, high levels of social dominance orientation moderated (i.e., increased) the perceived fragility of heterosexual identity relative to homosexual identity. No other inter-group ideology was a significant moderator. These findings highlight that heterosexuality is perceived as more fragile by both heterosexual and sexual minority individuals. Implications and possible avenues for future research are discussed.

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).

White Identity and Climate Change Skepticism: Assessing the Mediating Roles of Social Dominance Orientation and Conspiratorial Ideation

Prior research has found that white people are more likely to be climate change skeptics. In much of this prior work, white identity is treated as a categorical label, limiting the theoretical and empirical understanding of this relationship. Drawing on survey data from a US national sample of 933 white young adults, we theorize that white identity is a developmental process where people explore the meanings of their racial identity and commit to a white identity marked by enhanced levels of social dominance orientation and conspiratorial ideation, two social-psychological constructs consistently associated with climate change skepticism. Using regression analyses, we tested a mediation model that a strong white identity would increase climate change skepticism by enhancing one’s social dominance orientation and conspiratorial ideation. We found partial support for our model. While a strong white identity was positively associated with social dominance orientation and conspiratorial ideation, only social dominance orientation increased climate change skepticism. Conspiratorial ideation reduced climate change skepticism. We discuss the implications of our findings for the climate change literature as well as how our findings can inform policies that could reduce climate change skepticism among white people.

Committed to the Cause? Examining Social Work Education's Role in Supporting Ally Behavior for Transgender and Nonbinary People and Communities

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) youth and adults are under attack in the United States, with at least 300 state-level anti-transgender bills introduced thus far in 2022 (HRC, 2022). Social workers, guided by professional values and ethics, play a critical role in supporting and advocating for TNB youth and adults, clinically and through mezzo and macro approaches. Given the current political context and the goals of the social work profession, understanding correlates of ally behavior on behalf of TNB people among social work students can help guide improvements in social work education. Specifically, in this study, we examine how demographic differences, social work program variables, and psychosocial predictors are related to increased levels of ally behavior among social work students. Correlates of increased ally behavior in the final multivariate model include having TNB friends, having LGBQ friends, lower levels of social dominance orientation, and lower levels of transphobia. Post-hoc analyses suggest that differences emerge based on levels of social dominance orientation. From the findings, we offer suggestions for school-level interventions that have the potential to increase ally behaviors among social work students as it relates to the TNB community.

Shooter biases and stereotypes among police and civilians

The present research assesses potential correlates of discriminatory police behavior, comparing police and civilian participants in a first person shooter task (FPST) as well as on various self-report measures of intergroup contact, intergroup attitudes, and ideological beliefs in three preregistered studies. Study 1 (N = 330), using a FPST with a short response window (630 ms), did not observe shooter biases in reaction times, error rates and signal detection parameters in neither police nor civilian participants. Study 2a (N = 290), using a longer response window (850 ms), observed a shooter bias in reaction times, error rates, and response criterion in both civilian and police participants. These shooter biases were largely driven by faster reactions, fewer errors, and more liberal shoot decisions for armed Arab (vs. White) targets. Study 2b (N = 191; 850 ms response window) closely replicated shooter biases in reaction times, error rates, and response criterion in a sample of civilian online participants. Across studies, we observed similar results in the shooter task for police and civilian samples. Furthermore, both police and civilian participants expressed anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attitudes across a variety of self-report measures. However, compared to civilians, police participants reported higher levels of anti-Muslim attitudes on some measures as well as higher levels of social dominance orientation, which might pose additional risk factors for discriminatory behavior. Lastly, while we observed reliable individual differences in self-reported intergroup attitudes, ideologies, and intergroup contact, none of these characteristics correlated with shooter biases.

Surveilling threat: The roles of ideology and threat perceptions in support for Islamophobic policy

AbstractAfter the attacks on 9/11, Muslims in the United States were the targets of increased surveillance by law enforcement on the basis of their religious identity, often resulting in mistreatment and unjustified imprisonment. The current study examined ideologies that are associated with Islamophobia and support for police surveillance of Muslims, as well as specific types of intergroup threat perceptions that mediate these relationships. Participants (N = 603) completed a survey measuring Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right‐wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Nationalism, intergroup threat perceptions, Islamophobia, and support for an anti‐Muslim police surveillance policy. Results demonstrated that higher levels of SDO, RWA, and Nationalism were each independently associated with Islamophobia through increased realistic, symbolic, and terroristic threat perceptions. Further, higher levels of Islamophobia mediated the relationships between each type of perceived threat and support for a Muslim surveillance policy. This comprehensive model of anti‐Muslim bias highlights the relative, independent effects of ideology and threat perceptions on anti‐Muslim prejudice and discrimination. Findings hold implications for the use of threat‐based language and stereotyping in policy decisions, particularly among those high in SDO, RWA, and Nationalism.

Veg*ns’ and omnivores’ reciprocal attitudes and dehumanization: The role of social dominance orientation, ingroup identification, and anticipated reproach

Two studies compared omnivores’ and veg*ns’ attitudes and dehumanization tendencies toward each other and identified the social psychological factors explaining them. Study 1 (N = 208, Italians) showed that veg*ns’ hold less positive attitudes toward omnivores than the reverse, and attributed to them less human uniqueness and nature; these differences were explained by veg*ns’ stronger identification with the ingroup and higher perceptions of reproach from the outgroup, even if omnivores’ higher levels of social dominance orientation worsened their attitude toward veg*ns. Study 2 (preregistered, N = 200, mostly from UK) overall replicated Study 1 findings at the explicit level. Interestingly, omnivores’ and veg*ns’ implicit attitudes were equally positive (but less positive than self-reported attitudes) and not predicted by the same mediators associated with the explicit measures. This work suggests that neither veg*ns nor omnivores hold negative attitudes toward each other: they were both positive or neutral toward the outgroup, even if at the explicit level this positivity is greater for omnivores.

Influence of sex on judgments of an aggressive North African woman

IntroductionThere is little research on how to judge a woman in a cross-cultural context. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to examine how women from North Africa are perceived socially, through observation of representations of this minority group in a judicial context. MethodIn this study, 277 French students (132 men and 145 women) read a scenario describing a North African woman who hits another woman, and who adopted one of the four acculturation strategies (assimilation, integration, separation or marginalization). They then judged the act and its perpetrator. The participants’ level of social dominance orientation (SDO) was also assessed. ResultsThe results show that men judged the perpetrator more harshly than women and perceived as posing greater threat. The acculturation strategy adopted by the offender did not interact with the sex of the participants, but men perceived adoption of the host culture as an aggravating circumstance. Social dominance orientation moderated the effect of sex on the participants’ perception of the perpetrator, but not on their judgment of the act. ConclusionThis study has important implications regarding the way relationships of domination are affected by an offender who belongs to two minority groups.

Representations of Social Justice and Digital Civic Engagement: The Influence of Psychosocial Variables in Teacher Training

Teacher training programs usually contain specific psychoeducational aspects, but these should also promote citizenship competences based on social justice in order to encourage a more sustainable world. The three dimensions of Social Justice, the Belief in a Just World (BJW) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) are psychosocial variables linked to the construction of civic engagement and participation, including in digital frameworks. The aim of the study was to analyze these variables in students seeking teaching training degrees that have begun their program and students who are finishing their studies. The sample was composed of 420 teachers enrolled in a Teacher Training Degree for Elementary Education with an age range between 17 to 44 (M = 21.10; DT = 3.26), among which a subgroup was in their first year of study (n = 217) and another group was in the fourth year (n = 203). The results shows that there were significant differences in social justice representations, and in levels of SDO and BJW, with a better psychosocial index at the end of training. The changes in social justice representations of future teachers are not uniform for the three dimensions and some gender differences were maintained, showing no significant differences in the variables evaluated in both stages of training. Finally, linear regression analyses showed that BJW and SDO predicted social justice representations and the Digital Civic Engagement of future teachers. The implications of the psychosocial variables studied are discussed as possible factors to consider in educational psychology to promote innovative developments from teacher training programs.

The effect on judgment of attributing religious affiliation to a terrorist suspect

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects and correlations of the perceived religious affiliation on a fictitious terrorism case. Participants were 402 French adults who completed a questionnaire after reading a scenario involving the arrest of a person (French vs. North African; man vs. woman) wearing an explosive belt. They indicated the level of the perpetrator’s religious affiliation and judged her/him and the act. The participants’ level of social dominance orientation (SDO) was measured and studied along in its two dimensions. The results showed an effect of ethnicity on perceived religious affiliation, which was correlated with judgment and mediated the effect of social dominance on judgment. The implications of this study are discussed in terms of intergroup interactions and religious prejudice.

Feminist identification, social dominance orientation, and weight bias in men.

Weight bias has deleterious consequences on individuals considered overweight and has similarities with forms of prejudice linked to social dominance orientation (SDO). Feminism can counter oppression that women are subject to notably through weight bias and SDO, but no studies have focused directly on these variables among men, as feminist identity is linked to less endorsement of certain beliefs in SDO and weight bias. The purpose of the present study is to explore the associations between feminist identification and beliefs, SDO, and weight bias among men from Quebec. Participants were divided into four feminist identification groups. Results indicate that feminist identification in men is linked to lower levels of SDO and less dislike toward people considered overweight. Also, feminism seems to predict prejudice toward others, but not toward oneself whereas SDO-D seems to be a good predictor of the belief that weight is controllable.

The Relationship between Social Dominance Orientation and Dietary/Lifestyle Choices

This research aims to: (1) examine the construct social dominance orientation (SDO) in a setting that expands group hierarchy to include prejudices and dominance toward animals; (2) compare predictive validity and internal consistency between the 16-item SDO6 and the 4-item SSDO; and (3) test whether the SDO6 and the SSDO scales predict well in a consumer behavior oriented contextual setting. Predictive validity of the SSDO was almost as high as that of the SSD6; internal reliability, however, was considerably lower. Further, as hypothesized, individuals exhibiting lower levels of SDO, as assessed by both SDO6 and SSDO, exhibit lower levels of speciesism as well as higher levels of empathic concern. In addition, as hypothesized, ethical vegans, as compared to carnists, display lower levels of SDO and speciesism, and higher levels of empathic concern.

A trait-interactionist approach to understanding the role of stressors in the personality-CWB relationship.

In the current study, we extend the trait-activation theory (TAT) in order to provide context for the role of stressors in the relationship between personality and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Specifically, we propose relationships between conflict-sensitive personality traits (social dominance orientation and hostile attributional style) and CWB, moderated by organizational stressors (interpersonal conflict and organizational constraints) as trait-relevant situational cues that signal competition. A sample of 208 matched employee-supervisor dyads was recruited from an online panel for a multiphasic study. As expected, the relationships between personality traits and supervisor-reported CWB were stronger when stressors were high compared to low, even when controlling for negative affectivity. Thus, as guided by TAT, we suggest that workplaces should minimize cues that activate CWB or attempt to use cues that constrain these behaviors, particularly when considering employees with higher levels of social dominance orientation or hostile attributional style. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Social dominance orientation predicts lower moral condemnation of causing harm to animals.

Recent studies and theorizing (SD-HARM model) suggested that social dominance orientation (SDO) constitutes the ideological foundation of negative attitude towards animals and acceptance of their exploitation. At the same time, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) is expected to predict speciesist beliefs only when they are perceived as part of societal tradition. The present studies investigated these predictions with moral condemnation of harm done to animals by humans as an indicator of speciesism. 400 and 324 people, aged 18-87, took part in two cross-sectional studies. They reported their levels of SDO and RWA and made moral judgments of harm done to animals. In both studies, SDO, but not RWA, negatively predicted moral condemnation of harming animals. The results offer additional support for the SD-HARM model. The more people accept SDO beliefs, the less they morally condemn harm done to animals by humans.