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We tested the joint influence of individual difference and situational factors on implicit group prejudice. Participants in Experiments 1 and 2 were briefly shown in-group or out-group pronouns prior to evaluating good or bad trait adjectives. Under standard conditions (Experiment 1), there was no difference between participants with high and low social dominance orientation (SDO), but when the intergroup context was made more salient (Experiment 2), high-SDO participants alone showed implicit group prejudice. Implications for the malleability and consensuality of implicit prejudice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health disparities between groups remain even after accounting for established causes such as structural and economic factors. The present research tested, for the first time, whether multiple social categorization processes can explain enhanced support for immigrant health (measured by respondents’ behavioral intention to support immigrants’ vaccination against A H1N1 disease by cutting regional public funds). Moreover, the mediating role of individualization and the moderating role of social identity complexity were tested. Findings showed that multiple versus single categorization of immigrants lead to support their right to health and confirmed the moderated mediation hypothesis. The potential in developing this sort of social cognitive intervention to address health disparities is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study extends previous research on the influence of social dominance orientation (SDO) in international affairs by investigating the role of sociocognitive processes such as social identity complexity (SIC) and intergroup dehumanization in explaining the relationship between SDO and support for Arabs' autonomy. An Italian heterogeneous sample ( N = 123), in terms of gender, age, political orientation, religiosity, and income level, was considered. We expected that those low on SDO would be more likely to support Arabs' autonomy, would have higher SIC, and would be less likely to dehumanize Arabs. We also expected that SIC and dehumanization would sequentially mediate the relationship between SDO and support for Arabs' autonomy. Results revealed that Italians low on SDO have higher SIC (i.e., a more inclusive social identity) which endorses lower dehumanization of Arabs. This in turn explained the influence of SDO on support for Arabs' autonomy. These findings integrate the literature about SDO and SIC and enhance the understanding of the sociocognitive processes underlying people's support for international egalitarian movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a random sample of 243 Muslims in Lebanon and Syria, we examined whether support for Hezbollah or for Al Qaeda is predicted by functionally-relevant emotional responses to specific threats perceived to be posed by Americans. In line with the sociofunctional approach, perceived resource domination threat from Americans elicited anger, and perceived value contamination threat elicited disgust/contempt toward Americans. Importantly, these intergroup emotions in turn differentially predicted support for Hezbollah and Al Qaeda through desires for the organizations to accomplish different goals to address the threat perceptions. Specifically, anger toward Americans predicted support for Hezbollah through desires for the organization to restore threatened symbolic resources by bringing pride and respect to Arabs. In contrast, disgust/contempt toward Americans predicted support for Al Qaeda through desires for the organization to protect threatened ingroup values by de-contaminating Islam from Western cultural influence. Theoretical explanations and implications for addressing and mitigating hostilities between the groups are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the multidimensional nature of intergroup hate and the potential roles of hate and prejudice in expressions of White Americans' treatment of Blacks within the context of the U.S. legal system. White participants in the U.S. read about a provoked or unprovoked violent assault perpetrated by a Black assailant on a White victim. Emotional reactions and recommendations for punishment (prescribed sentencing and support for the death penalty) were assessed. Supportive of Sternberg's (2003) duplex model of hate, we found that explicit (self-reported) hate reflected separate components of negation of intimacy (e.g., disgust and repulsion), passion (anger and fear), and devaluation/commitment (e.g., attributions of evil and inhuman); these components, in turn, differentially mediated punitiveness toward the assailant. The results also revealed that although the direct effect of prejudice on retribution was mediated by self-reported hate, more subtle and indirect effects occurred independently of hate or its affective components. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings for biased decision making in legal contexts are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large panel sample of undergraduates, we measured the social dominance orientation (SDO) scores of men and women once a year across a 4½-year period. Employing repeated-measures ANOVAs, we found that, even after controlling for the character of students' academic majors (hierarchy enhancing or hierarchy attenuating), males showed significantly higher SDO scores than did females across the entire college career. The data are discussed in terms of the invariance hypothesis within social dominance theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined various group identifications among Lebanese Muslims and Christians after the events of September 11 2001 and how these identifications related to social dominance orientation (SDO) and support for violence against the West. We expected stronger identification with less powerful groups to be associated with lower SDO (i.e. greater desires for group equality), and stronger support for terrorist organizations and violent acts against powerful nations. Consistent with these expectations, we found that SDO related negatively to identification with Arabs, and this group identification related positively to support for terrorist organizations and feelings that the September 11 attack was justified. Furthermore, we found that the direct negative effect of SDO on support for terrorism was mediated by Arab identification. Efforts to reduce conflict are discussed in terms of recognizing the anti-dominance elements of Arab identification in Lebanon, and the powerful implications that this subordinate group identification has for continued support of terrorist organizations and violence against the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares symbolic racism and social dominance theories by reanalysis of data from a national probability sample of 234 White Americans and by using observed-variables, structural equation models. Criticism of the symbolic racism (SR) theory have been both conceptual and theoretical. One conceptual criticism questions the necessity of the concept of symbolic racism itself. Some empirical evidence indicates that what is being called symbolic racism is nothing more than old-fashioned racism elicited through less offensively worded questionnaire items. A conceptual view criticizes the symbolic racism literature for containing a great deal of conceptual confusion regarding the meaning of central concepts and the casual interconnections among these concepts. A theoretical criticism of SR theory comes from the group-conflict school. SR theory maintains that certain issues of public policy are not driven by rational self-interest but by symbolic attitudes. Racial attitudes and political ideology do determine one's position on certain racially relevant issues of public policy.

A great deal of empirical research has shown that many of the behavioral and attitudinal differences found between males and females can be conceptualized as falling within the domains of "ranking" and "linking" orientations. This paper explores the three major paradigms that can be and have been used to explain the etiology of these male-female differences: (a) cultural determinism, (b) biological determinism' and (c) bicultural interactionism. It argues that, although there is no definitive evidence in support of any of these three major explanatory paradigms, the cultural and biological deterministic paradigms are difficult to reconcile with a good deal of empirical evidence. Hence, understanding male-female differences as a complex interaction between biological and cultural factors may be a more fruitful approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the psychometric proprieties of the Italian version of the Social Dominance Orientation7 (SDO7) Scale, originally developed by Ho et al. (2015). We recruited a convenience sample (N = 497) to answer an online self-report questionnaire, including the SDO7 Scale and other relevant convergent and divergent measures. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that SDO7 presents a satisfactory fit to the data, both as a two-correlated factor structure and as a one-dimensional measure. The two-correlated factor structure is confirmed as composed by two subdimensions as in the original version: the SDO-Dominance (SDO-D) and the SDO-Anti-Egalitarianism (SDO-E). Since the total SDO7 score measures people's support for asymmetrical group relationships, the SDO-D is concerned with people's support for dominant-submissive forms of intergroup relationships whereas the SDO-E refers to the desire to support intergroup inequalities. The scale and subscales also present satisfactory indexes of reliability as well as convergent and divergent validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that the perceived morality of the ingroup is a primary source of group pride and ingroup identification. The present research examined whether this is true even when a group has a poor reputation for morality in terms of dishonesty and corruption, such as in the case of Italians. To address this issue, two studies analyzed the role of the three fundamental dimensions of social judgment—morality, competence, and sociability—in predicting Italians' identification with their nation when the salience of social comparison and the status of the comparison outgroup were varied. Findings showed that perceived morality predicted ingroup identification when participants did not engage in social comparison. Under salient social comparison, individuals based group identification on other dimensions: Perceived sociability was the main predictor of identification when respondents compared with a higher status outgroup (Germans; Study 1; N = 109), whereas perceived competence was the main predictor of identification when participants compared with a lower status outgroup (Romanians; Study 2; N = 121). Overall, findings showed compensation processes in social identification: When social comparison is salient, members of a low morality group base identification on the dimension which allows positive differentiation from the outgroup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a random sample of 383 Muslims and Christians in Lebanon and Syria, we explored the degree of public support for two distinct kinds of asymmetric violence—“fundamentalist violence” and “resistance violence”—against the United States as a function of three explanatory narratives: a clash of cultures narrative, social identity/self-categorization theory, and a counterdominance perspective. Multiple regression analyses showed that the factors most closely associated with support of asymmetric violence among Arab populations was very much dependent upon the type of asymmetric violence. Among both Christians and Muslims, the results showed that perceived incompatibility between Arab and American cultures was the best predictor of support for fundamentalist violence, while perceived American domination of the Arab world was the distinctly strongest predictor of support for resistance violence. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new conceptualization and measurement of social dominance orientation--individual differences in the preference for group based hierarchy and inequality--is introduced. In contrast to previous measures of social dominance orientation that were designed to be unidimensional, the new measure (SDO?) embeds theoretically grounded subdimensions of SDO--SDO-Dominance (SDO-D) and SDO-Egalitarianism (SDO-E). SDO-D constitutes a preference for systems of group-based dominance in which high status groups forcefully oppress lower status groups. SDO-E constitutes a preference for systems of group-based inequality that are maintained by an interrelated network of subtle hierarchy-enhancing ideologies and social policies. Confirmatory factor and criterion validity analyses confirmed that SDO-D and SDO-E are theoretically distinct and dissociate in terms of the intergroup outcomes they best predict. For the first time, distinct personality and individual difference bases of SDO-D and SDO-E are outlined. We clarify the construct validity of SDO by strictly assessing a preference for dominance hierarchies in general, removing a possible confound relating to support for hierarchy benefitting the ingroup. Consistent with this, results show that among members of a disadvantaged ethnic minority group (African Americans), endorsement of SDO7 is inversely related to ingroup identity. We further demonstrate these effects using nationally representative samples of U.S. Blacks and Whites, documenting the generalizability of these findings. Finally, we introduce and validate a brief 4-item measure of each dimension. This article importantly extends our theoretical understanding of one of the most generative constructs in social psychology, and introduces powerful new tools for its measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using random samples of approximately 200 Lebanese and 200 Syrian citizens, we examined the antecedents and consequences of individuals' desires to maintain the honor of different groups to which they belong. As expected, the importance of group honor was positively associated with the conservation values of conformity and tradition, negatively associated with the openness to change values of hedonism and stimulation, and positively related to the self-transcendence values of benevolence and universalism. Group honor concern was positively related to conforming and tender-minded personality traits and empathy. The intergroup outcomes of concern for group honor in Lebanon and Syria were examined in the context of relations between Arabs and Americans. Beyond the related effects of RWA and SDO, Lebanese and Syrians' concerns about maintaining the honor of their ingroups predicted support for violence against Americans through perceptions that Americans disrespect, mistreat, and want to humiliate Arabs. Similar patterns of relationships emerged in both Lebanon and Syria, bolstering confidence in the generalizability of the findings across cultures of honor with similar intergroup power dynamics. Implications for understanding the meaning of group honor across cultures with different intergroup power dynamics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to authors of previous single-nation studies, we propose that supporting multiculturalism (MC) or assimilation (AS) is likely to have different effects in different countries, depending on the diversity policy in place in a particular country and the associated norms. A causal model of intergroup attitudes and behaviors, integrating both country-specific factors (attitudes and perceived norms related to a particular diversity policy) and general social-psychological determinants (social dominance orientation), was tested among participants from countries where the pro-diversity policy was independently classified as low, medium, or high (N = 1,232). Results showed that (a) anti-Muslim prejudice was significantly reduced when the pro-diversity policy was high; (b) countries differed strongly in perceived norms related to MC and AS, in ways consistent with the actual diversity policy in each country and regardless of participants' personal attitudes toward MC and AS; (c) as predicted, when these norms were salient, due to subtle priming, structural equation modeling with country included as a variable provided support for the proposed model, suggesting that the effect of country on prejudice can be successfully accounted by it; and (d) consistent with the claim that personal support for MC and AS played a different role in different countries, within-country mediation analyses provided evidence that personal attitudes toward AS mediated the effect of social dominance orientation on prejudice when pro-diversity policy was low, whereas personal attitudes toward MC was the mediator when pro- diversity policy was high. Thus, the critical variables shaping prejudice can vary across nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using correlational and experimental data, we examined the degree to which personal and perceived normative support for the acculturation ideologies of assimilation, multiculturalism, and colorblindness mediated and moderated the relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and prejudice among 299 White students at three American colleges. Correlational results indicated that personal support for the acculturation ideologies mediated the SDO–prejudice relationship. Personal support for assimilation (a hierarchy-enhancing ideology) positively related to SDO; multiculturalism and colorblindness (hierarchy-attenuating ideologies) negatively related to SDO. An experimental manipulation varied whether assimilation, multiculturalism, or colorblindness was considered normative in the United States. In addition to a control, a fifth condition primed the Obama presidency. SDO related most strongly to prejudice toward American immigrants and ethnic minorities when assimilation norms and the Obama presidency were primed. Efforts to reduce the associations between SDO and prejudice are discussed in terms of highlighting hierarchy-attenuating national norms of multiculturalism and colorblindness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The present experiment tested the impact of sexual objectification on women’s behavior in social interactions. We predicted that when objectified, women would narrow their social presence by spending little time talking, particularly when interacting with men. Participants (males and females) gave an oral introduction of themselves to an alleged interaction partner (male or female). Objectification was manipulated by having participants believe their bodies were either visually inspected or not inspected during this introduction. Specifically, participants introduced themselves through a closed-circuit device in one of three conditions: body (videotaped from the neck down), face (videotaped from the neck up), or audio (no videotaping). Women who were in the body condition and thought they were interacting with men spent less time talking than participants in all other groups. In addition, the majority of women disliked the body condition, indicating that they found having their bodies gazed at aversive. Implications for women’s behavior in mixed-sex contexts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current study examines perceived status differences among ethnic groups. Consistent with a group dominance perspective, three samples of American university students revealed that perceived ethnic status differences increased to the extent that individuals had low ethnic status, perceived their society to be unfair, and were lower on social dominance orientation. In addition, social dominance orientation moderated the relationship between perceived status differences and perceived societal fairness such that perceived unfairness was associated with perceived status differences only for those low on social dominance orientation. Discussion suggests that variability in perceived status differences stems from group position, and that understanding the origins of individuals' perceptions of status differences may be a basic and necessary step to improve intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive intergroup contact has been a guiding framework for research on reducing intergroup tension and for interventions aimed at that goal. We propose that beyond improving attitudes toward the out-group, positive contact affects disadvantaged-group members' perceptions of intergroup inequality in ways that can undermine their support for social change toward equality. In Study 1, participants were assigned to either high- or low-power experimental groups and then brought together to discuss either commonalities between the groups or intergroup differences. Commonality-focused contact, relative to difference-focused contact, produced heightened expectations for fair (i.e., egalitarian) out-group behavior among members of disadvantaged groups. These expectations, however, proved unrealistic when compared against the actions of members of the advantaged groups. Participants in Study 2 were Israeli Arabs (a disadvantaged minority) who reported the amount of positive contact they experienced with Jews. More positive intergroup contact was associated with increased perceptions of Jews as fair, which in turn predicted decreased support for social change. Implications for social change are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ïVladimir's choice' refers to the tendency for people to favor the ingroup relative to the outgroup-even when doing so requires that people sacrifice ingroup profits in absolute terms. We investigated correlates of this tendency by asking a sample of White undergraduates to complete an allocation task using a resource allocation matrix. While there was a slight tendency for Vladimir's choice to increase with increasing levels of ethnic identification, this tendency disappeared when other factors were considered. Consistent with realistic group conflict theory and social dominance theory, the tendency to make Vladimir's choice increased with increasing levels of perceived intergroup competition and social dominance orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fazio, Sanbonmatsu, Powell, and Kardes (1986) demonstrated that Ss were able to evaluate adjectives more quickly when these adjectives were immediately preceded (primed) by attitude objects of similar valence, compared with when these adjectives were primed by attitude objects of opposite valence. Moreover, this effect obtained primarily for attitude objects toward which Ss were presumed to hold highly accessible attitudes, as indexed by evaluation latency. The present research explored the generality of these findings across attitude objects and across procedural variations. The results of 3 experiments indicated that the automatic activation effect is a pervasive and relatively unconditional phenomenon. It appears that most evaluations stored in memory, for social and nonsocial objects alike, become active automatically on the mere presence or mention of the object in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated differences in social dominance orientation between incumbents of different social roles (police officers vs. public defenders) and ethnic groups known to differ in general social status (i.e., whites vs. blacks and Hispanics). Consistent with theoretical expectations: (a) Police were significantly more social-dominance oriented than either jurors or public defenders. (b) Public defenders tended to be less social-dominance oriented than jurors. (c) Euro-Americans were significantly more social dominance oriented than Afro- and Hispanic-Americans. (d) Euro-American police officers had, by far, the highest levels of social dominance orientation. Furthermore, all of the effects above held even when controlling for demographic factors such as gender, social class, age, education, and ethnic group. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the interface between ethnic and national attachment. Despite growing interest in the psychologies of patriotism and nationalism and ethnic identity, there has allegedly been surprisingly little empirical research addressing the interface between attachment to the nation as a whole and attachment to one's ethnic group. Since the end of the Second World War, there has been a striking increase in the formation of new nations. While most of such new nations resulted from liberation movements and the demise of old colonial empires, the wave resulted from the fracturing of multiethnic states in Eastern Europe and their replacement by more ethnically homogenous nations. Several other ethnically heterogeneous nations, including Great Britain, United States, Russia, Spain, Canada, and China, are also experiencing social tension between ethnic group attachment and national attachment. Consistent with themes raised by the discourse concerning the disuniting of America, such events question whether it is possible to foster loyalty to and identification with one's own ethnic particularism and, at the same time, maintain shared national values and a sense of common national identification.

Social dominance theory (SDT; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) hypothesizes that members of subordinate groups who are higher on social dominance orientation (SDO; desire for maintaining status hierarchies) coordinate with dominant ones in maintaining asymmetrical relationships. The present research tests this hypothesis in a higher education setting by examining whether SDO serves as an antecedent to subordinates' compliance with harsh power tactics. A longitudinal study asked students (N = 91) to imagine themselves in a subordinated condition doing specific tasks in which they were supervised by a professor. Respondents' SDO and compliance to harsh tactics were measured at two different times. A cross-lagged path analysis, using Bayesian estimation, supported the hypotheses. Students' SDO measured at time 1 predicted their compliance to harsh power tactics measured at time 2, controlling for their initial levels of compliance to harsh power tactics. There was no evidence for the converse; students' compliance to harsh power tactics at time 1 did not predict SDO measured at time 2 taking into account the initial levels of SDO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]