Social dominance orientation
Encyclopedia
Social dominance orientation (SDO) 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 individual's preference for hierarchy
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
within any social system. The concept of SDO as a measurable individual difference is a product of Social Dominance Theory
Social Dominance Theory
Social Dominance Theory is a multilevel theory of group conflict 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...
.
Individuals who score high in SDO desire to maintain and, in many cases, increase the differences between social status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
es of different groups, as well as individual group members. Typically, they are dominant, driven, tough, and relatively uncaring seekers of power. Often, people who score high in SDO adhere strongly to belief in a "dog-eat-dog" world.
Social dominance theory
SDO was first proposed by Jim Sidanius and Felicia Pratto as part of their Social Dominance TheorySocial Dominance Theory
Social Dominance Theory is a multilevel theory of group conflict 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...
(SDT). SDO is the key measurable component of SDT that is specific to it.
SDT begins with the empirical observation that surplus-producing social systems have a threefold group-based hierarchy structure: age-based, gender-based and “arbitrary set-based,” which can include race, class, sexual orientation, caste, ethnicity, religious affiliation, etc. Age-based hierarchies invariably give more power to adults and middle-age people than children and younger adults, and gender-based hierarchies invariably grant more power to men than women, but arbitrary-set hierarchies—though quite resilient—are truly arbitrary.
SDT is based on three primary assumptions:
1. While age- and gender-based hierarchies will tend to exist within all social systems, arbitrary-set systems of social hierarchy will invariably emerge within social systems producing sustainable economic surpluses.
2. Most forms of group conflict and oppression (e.g., racism, homophobia, ethnocentrisim, sexism, nationalism, classicism, regionalism) can be regarded as different manifestations of the same basic human predisposition to form group-based hierarchies.
3. Human social systems are subject to the counterbalancing influences of hierarchy-enhancing (HE) forces, producing and maintaining ever higher levels of group-based social inequality, and hierarchy-attenuating (HA) forces, producing greater levels of group-based social equality.
SDO is the individual attitudinal aspect of SDT. It is influenced by group status, gender (women score lower on SDO), socialization, and temperament. In turn, it influences support for HE and HA "legitimating myths," defined as “values, attitudes, beliefs, causal attributions and ideologies” that in turn justify social institutions and practices that either enhance or attenuate group hierarchy.
Early development of SDO
While the correlation of gender with SDO scores has been empirically measured and confirmed, the impact of temperament and socialization is less clear. Duckitt has suggested a model of attitude development for SDO, suggesting that unaffectionate socialisation in childhood causes a tough-minded attitude. According to Duckitt's model, people high in tough-minded personality are predisposed to view the world as a competitive place in which resource competition is zero-sumZero-sum
In game theory and economic theory, a zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which a participant's gain of utility is exactly balanced by the losses of the utility of other participant. If the total gains of the participants are added up, and the total losses are...
. A desire to compete, which fits with social dominance orientation, influences in-group and outside-group attitudes.
SDO Scale
SDO has been measured by a series of scales that have been refined over time, all of which contain a balance of pro- and contra-trait statements or phrases. A 7-point Likert scaleLikert scale
A Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires. It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term is often used interchangeably with rating scale, or more accurately the Likert-type scale, even though...
is used for each item; participants rate their agreement or disagreement with the statements from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Most of the research was conducted with the SDO-5 (a 14-point scale) and SDO-6.
SDO-6 questions
- Some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups.
- In getting what you want, it is sometimes necessary to use force against other groups.
- It’s OK if some groups have more of a chance in life than others.
- To get ahead in life, it is sometimes necessary to step on other groups.
- If certain groups stayed in their place, we would have fewer problems.
- It’s probably a good thing that certain groups are at the top and other groups are at the bottom.
- Inferior groups should stay in their place.
- Sometimes other groups must be kept in their place.
- It would be good if groups could be equal.
- Group equality should be our ideal.
- All groups should be given an equal chance in life.
- We should do what we can to equalize conditions for different groups.
- Increased social equality is beneficial to society.
- We would have fewer problems if we treated people more equally.
- We should strive to make incomes as equal as possible.
- No group should dominate in society.
Keying is reversed on questions 9 through 16, to control for acquiescence
Acquiescence
Acquiescence is a legal term used to describe an act where a person knowingly stands by without raising any objection to the infringement of their rights, while someone else unknowingly and without malice aforethought makes a claim on their rights...
.
Group-based and individual dominance
Robert Altemeyer said that people with a high SDO want more power.(agreeing with items such as "Winning is more important than how you play the game") and more MachiavellianMachiavellianism
Machiavellianism is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", deriving from the Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote Il Principe and other works...
(manipulative and amoral) agreeing with items such as "There really is no such thing as 'right and wrong'. It all boils down to what you can get away with."
These observations are at odds with conceptualisations of SDO as a group-based phenomenon, suggesting that the SDO reflects interpersonal dominance, not only group-based dominance. This is supported by Sidanius and Pratto's own evidence that high-SDO individuals tend to gravitate toward hierarchy-enhancing jobs and institutions, such as law enforcement, that are themselves hierarchically structured vis-a-vis individuals within them.
Connection with right wing authoritarianism
SDO correlates weakly with right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) (r ≈ .18). Both predict attitudes, such as sexist, racist, and heterosexistHeterosexism
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. It can include the presumption that everyone is heterosexual or that opposite-sex attractions and relationships are the only norm and therefore superior...
attitudes.
SDO and RWA contribute to prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
in an additive rather than interactive way (the interaction of SDO and RWA accounted, in one study, for an average of less than .001% variance in addition to their linear combination), that is the association between SDO and prejudice is similar regardless of a person's level of RWA, and vice versa. However, little research has been done relating directly to behavior.
Correlation with conservative political views
Felicia Pratto and her colleagues have found evidence that a high Social Dominance Orientation is strongly correlated with conservativeConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
political views, and opposition to programs and policies that aim to promote equality (such as affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
, laws advocating equal rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for homosexuals, women in combat, etc.).
There has been some debate within the psychology community on what the relation is between SDO and racism/sexism. One explanation suggests that opposition to programs that promote equality need not be based on racism or sexism but on a "principled conservatism", that is, a "concern for equity, color-blindness, and genuine conservative values".
Some principled-conservatism theorists have suggested that racism and conservatism are independent, and only very weakly correlated among the highly educated, who truly understand the concepts of conservative values and attitudes. In an effort to examine the relationship between education, SDO, and racism, Sidanius and his colleagues asked approximately 4,600 Euro-Americans to complete a survey in which they were asked about their political and social attitudes, and their social dominance orientation was assessed. Results partially supported the principled-conservatism position, but also suggest several problems. Contrary to what these theorists would predict, correlations among SDO, political conservatism, and racism were strongest among the most educated, and weakest among the least educated. Sidanius and his colleagues hypothesized this was because conservatives tend to be more invested in the hierarchical structure of society and in maintaining the inequality of the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
in society.
Biology
Sidanius and Pratto propose that one mediating factor in SDO is androgenAndrogen
Androgen, also called androgenic hormone or testoid, is the generic term for any natural or synthetic compound, usually a steroid hormone, that stimulates or controls the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors...
s, noting primarily that males tend to have higher SDO scores than females. Males are also observed to be more socially hierarchical, as indicated by speaking time, and yielding to interruptions. The proposed biological reason for this difference in dominance is increased levels of androgens, primarily testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
. Male levels of testosterone are much higher than that of females.