Social Dominance Theory
Encyclopedia
Social Dominance Theory (SDT) is a multilevel theory of group conflict
Group conflict
Group conflict, or hostilities between different groups, is a pervasive feature common to all levels of social organization .. Although group conflict is one of the most complex phenomena studied by social scientists, the history of the human race evidences a series of group-level conflicts that...

 which attempts to explain the stability of group-based social hierarchies and group-based inequalities in the world. According to the theory, individual people differ on the extent to which they desire group-based inequality, which is an individual difference variable called "Social Dominance Orientation
Social dominance orientation
Social dominance orientation is a personality trait which predicts social and political attitudes, and is a widely used Social Psychological scale. SDO is conceptualised as a measure of individual differences in levels of group-based discrimination and domination; that is, it is a measure of an...

" (SDO). The theory was developed in the 1990s, but the related concepts are much older.

Origin

Social Dominance Theory was first formulated by psychology professors Jim Sidanius and Felicia Pratto. The theory begins with the observation that human social groups tend be organized according to group-based social hierarchies in societies that produce economic surplus. These hierarchies have a trimorphic (3-form) structure. This means that these hierarchies are based on (1) age (i.e., adults have more power and higher status than children), (2) gender (i.e., men have more power and higher status than women), and (3) arbitrary-set, which are group-based hierarchies that are culturally defined and do not necessarily exist in all societies. Arbitrary-set hierarchies can be based on ethnicity (e.g., Whites over Blacks in the U.S.), religion, nationality, and so on. Human social hierarchies consist of a hegemonic group
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...

 at the top and negative reference groups at the bottom. More powerful social roles are increasingly likely to be occupied by a hegemonic group member (for example, an older white male). Males are more dominant than females, and they possess more political power (the iron law of andrarchy
Androcracy
Androcracy or andrarchy is a form of government in which the government rulers are male. This term derives from the Greek root words andros, or "man", and krateo , or "to rule".-Example:...

). Most high-status positions are held by males . Prejudiced beliefs, such as racism, sexism, nationalism and classism, are all manifestations of this same system of social hierarchy.

Legitimizing myths

Various processes of hierarchical discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

 are driven by legitimizing myths (Sidanius, 1992), which are beliefs justifying social dominance, such as paternalistic
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...

 myths (hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...

 serves society, looks after incapable minorities
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...

), reciprocal myths (suggestions that hegemonic groups and outgroups are actually equal
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...

), and sacred
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...

 myths (the divine right of kings
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...

, as a religion-approved mandate for hegemony to govern). Pratto et al. (1994) suggest the Western idea of meritocracy
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...

 and individual achievement as an example of a legitimizing myth, and argues that meritocracy produces only an illusion of fairness
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...

. SDT draws on social identity
Social identity
A social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. As originally formulated by Henri Tajfel and John Turner in the 1970s and 80s, social identity theory introduced the concept of a social identity as a way in which to...

 theory, suggesting that social-comparison processes drive individual discrimination (ingroup favouritism). Discriminatory
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

 acts (such as insulting remarks about minorities) are performed because they increase the actors' self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...

.

Social myths are common knowledge-based reasons for the subjugation of one particular person or group (=genocide), for a particular purpose, or it can not be defined as discrimination, only "bias", which will have to be talked about at length itself if a real in-depth approach is to be taken to this subject. The chaos involved in this discussion can be explained by saying that society first is based on reason supported by facts and followed by acts and made up of people: Class, order, neighborhoods, work sites, government, local state and federal, accompanied by the mischievousness of life they all produce when they interact together as one reason to be.

Gender and dominance

Consistent with the assumption that male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...

s tend to be more dominant than female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

s, SDT predicts that males will tend to have a higher social dominance orientation (SDO). As such, males will tend to function as hierarchy enforcers, that is, they will carry out acts of discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

 such as the systematic terror
State terrorism
State terrorism may refer to acts of terrorism conducted by a state against a foreign state or people. It can also refer to acts of violence by a state against its own people.-Definition:...

 by police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

s (Sidanius, 1992) and the extreme example of death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...

s and concentration camps. This is supported by evidence such as policeanius, J. & Siers, B. The gender gap in occupational role attainment: A social dominance approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a monthly psychology journal of the American Psychological Association. It is considered one of the top journals in the fields of social and personality psychology. Its focus is on empirical research reports; however, specialized theoretical,...

, 1997. SDT posits that males, in general, will tend to have a higher social dominance orientation.

Hegemonic group

Social Dominance Thecry is a consideration of group conflict which describes human society as consisting of oppressive group-based hierarchy structures. The key principles of Social Dominance Theory are:
  • Individuals are stratified by age, sex and group. Group identification is based on ethnicity, religion, nationality, and so on.
  • Human social hierarchy consists of a hegemonic group at the top and negative reference groups at the bottom.
  • As a role gets more powerful, the probability it is occupied by a hegemonic group member increases (Law of increasing proportion).
  • Males are more dominant than females; they possess more political power (the iron law of andrachy). Most high-power positions will be held by males.
  • Racism, Sexism, Nationalism and Classism are all manifestations of this same principle of social hierarchy.

Group hierarchy

The reason that social hierarchies exist in human societies is that they were necessary for survival of inter-group competition during conflict over resources. Essentially, groups organised in hierarchies were more efficient at combat than groups who were organised in other ways, giving a competitive advantage to groups disposed towards social hierarchies.

Social Dominance Theory explains the mechanisms of group hierarchy oppression using three basic mechanisms:
  • Aggregated individual discrimination (ordinary discrimination)
  • Aggregated institutional discrimination (discrimination by governmental and business institutions)
  • Systematic Terror (police violence, death squads, etc.)
    • Behavioural asymmetry
  • systematic outgroup favouritism or deference (minorities favour hegemony individuals)
    • asymmetric ingroup bias (as status increases, in-group favoritism decreases)
    • self-handicapping (low expectations of minorities are self-fulfilling prophecies)
    • ideological asymmetry (as status increases, so beliefs legitimizing and or enhancing the current social hierarchy)


These processes are driven by legitimizing myths, which are beliefs justifying social dominance:
  • paternalistic myths (hegemony serves society, looks after incapable minorities)
  • reciprocal myths (suggestions that hegemonic and outgroups are actually equal)
  • sacred myths (Divine right of kings - religion-approved mandate for hegemony to govern)

Meritocracy and social dominance

It is suggested that the Western idea of meritocracy
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...

 (individual achievement) is an example of a legitimizing myth, i.e. meritocracy is false and produces only an illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....

 of fairness.
SDT draws on social identity theory, suggesting that social comparison processes drive individual
discrimination (ingroup favouritism). Such acts are performed because they increase the actors self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...

.

SDT states that an individual's level of discrimination and domination can be conceptualised, or measured, with the social dominance orientation. This is an individual set of beliefs, sometimes viewed as something akin to a personality
Personality psychology
Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and individual differences. Its areas of focus include:* Constructing a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes...

-trait, which describes the actors views on social domination and the extent to which they will aspire to gain more power and climb the social ladder. For instance, the SDO6 scale measures social dominance orientation by agreement with statements such as "Sometimes other groups must be kept in their place" and "It's probably a good thing that certain groups are at the top and other groups at the bottom."

Relation to Marxism

SDT is influenced by Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 and socio-biological ideas. Marx described the oppressive hierarchy of hegemonic group(s) dominating negative reference groups, in his examples the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...

 (owning class) dominate the proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...

 (working class) by controlling capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...

 (the means of production), not paying workers enough, and so on. However Marx thought that the working class would eventually grasp the solution to this oppression and destroy the bourgeoisie in a revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...

. Sidanius has similar ideas of oppressive social hierarchies, albeit broadened to include many more types of group, but is pessimistic about change; social dominance is described as a permanent state of society caused by human nature.

Socio-biology views human psychological traits to be ultimately understandable in terms of evolutionary fitness. SDT views group hierarchies as an evolutionary adaptation. Similarly the androgen-mediated dominance of males is explained by reproductive strategy differences between men and women.

Criticisms

Some attend that recent examples of women in positions of high power disproves the iron law of andrarchy in which positions of high-power tend to be filled by men. While such instances do suggest the continuing trend of attenuation in gender-based hierarchy that has been evident in western culture for centuries, no example of a non-subsistence society where males do not dominate in positions of high power or that is free of sex-based discrimination has yet emerged. Social Dominance Theory suggests that extreme gender-group discrimination arises in societies where economic surplus creates the opportunity for large power dynamics. This view suggests that gender based hierarchy will persist in some form until radical political, economic, and cultural changes take place.

Some consider Social Dominance Theory as inherently negative because of its focus on oppression, and that it dooms society to endless oppression and exploitation. However, the stated purpose of the authors is to illuminate the means by which oppression is reinforced in order that it might be lessened, and the theory notes hierarchy-attenuating ideologies and structures as well as those that extenuate hierarchy.

Some argue that oppression is only a result of past historical injustices and will work itself out naturally. While SDT incorporates inequality and injustice as an important component to the maintenance of group-based hierarchy, defining the unequal distribution of social value, the theory also recognizes the importance of a variety of factors in maintaining oppression which are both empirically and theoretically supported.

Duckitt and right-wing authoritarianism

Duckitt accepts the concept of Social Dominance Orientation and attempts to pair it to a related set of beliefs, Right Wing Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...

 (RWA). This is a set of beliefs which include a rigid view of morality, often fundamentalist religious views, but overall the feeling that the government should have a strong leader, taking action to censor certain social groups (often those who are viewed as physically or morally threatening).

Duckitt proposes a model in which RWA and SDO are produced by socialization in childhood, by personality, and by worldview beliefs. Punitive socialisation is hypothesised as a cause of social conformity. This conformity is predicted to lead to a view of the world as a dangerous, dog-eat-dog place. These correspond to high–RWA beliefs, and in turn influence ingroup and outgroup attitudes. Unaffectionate socialisation is hypothesised to cause tough-minded attitudes. This promotes a view of the world as competitive, similar to the jungle of the evolutionary past. The need to compete is aligned with high SDO, and, again, influences ingroup and outgroup attitudes.

These two streams of causation may co-occur. Parenting styles may be both punitive and unaffectionate, and a competitive-jungle worldview is compatible with world–as–a-dangerous-place. Once established, high–RWA beliefs are hypothesised to promote high–SDO beliefs and vice versa. This predicts high correlations between the two, with environmental origins. On top of this, outgroup and ingroup attitudes may reinforce each other.

The model has been tested using structural equation modeling
Structural equation modeling
Structural equation modeling is a statistical technique for testing and estimating causal relations using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions...

 to test the predictions of relations between SDO, RWA, world–view, parenting styles, and ingroup/outgroup attitudes. The predicted pathways were significant (p < 0.05) in the predicted directions, supporting the model. Unpredicted links included a direct effect of Dangerous-world beliefs on anti-minority attitudes. Unaffectionate socialization also had a negative correlation with social conformity - unaffectionate parenting style reduced social conformity beliefs. A replication of the study in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

produced broadly similar results, with differences in the level of overall prejudice (higher in South Africa).

Duckitt further examines the complexities of the interaction between RWA, SDO and a variety of specific ideological/prejudicial beliefs and behaviour. For instance:
  • RWA beliefs are activated by social threat or threatening outgroups
  • SDO beliefs are activated by competition and intergroup inequalities in status and power
  • RWA is a stronger predictor of prejudice when the outgroup is threatening
  • When group status is unstable, SDO is associated with higher ingroup bias than when group status is stable
  • Outgroup liking is best predicted by similarity to the ingroup, while outgroup respect is predicted by status and technological advancement


Duckitt concludes that RWA and SDO have been well studied, and points out that this way of examining belief-paradigms and motivation-schemas could also be useful for examining anti-authoritarian-libertarian and egalitarian-altruistic ideologies.

Further reading

  • Lewis, Rebecca J. Beyond Dominance: The Importance of Leverage. The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 77, No. 2 (Jun., 2002), pp. 149–164
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