SOCIAL-DOMINANCE ORIENTATION - A PERSONALITY VARIABLE PREDICTING SOCIAL AND POLITICAL-ATTITUDES

Social dominance orientation (SDO), one's degree of preference for ine quality among social groups, is introduced. On the basis of social dom inance theory, it is shown that (a) men are more social dominance-orie nted than women, (b) high-SDO people seek hierarchy-enhancing professi onal roles and low-SDO people seek hierarchy-attenuating roles, (c) SD O was related to beliefs in a large number of social and political ide ologies that support group-based hierarchy (e.g., meritocracy and raci sm) and to support for policies that have implications for intergroup relations (e.g., war, civil rights, and social programs), including ne w policies. SDO was distinguished from interpersonal dominance, conser vatism, and authoritariansim. SDO was negatively correlated with empat hy, tolerance, communality, and altruism. The ramifications of SDO in social context are discussed.