What is the difference between social dominance orientation (sdo) and right-wing authoritarianism?

Duckitt [2001] argued that Social Dominance Orientation [SDO; Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994] and Right-Wing Authoritarianism [RWA; Altemeyer, 1998] reflect dual aspects of a Cognitive-Motivational system underlying individual differences in prejudice. According to Duckitt, SDO and RWA are defined not as immutable personality-type traits but rather ideological attitudes that express relatively independent motivational goals for group-based dominance and superiority [in the case of SDO], and social cohesion and collective security [in the case of RWA]. Duckitt’s [2001] Dual Process Cognitive-Motivational Model [DPM] posits that these two motivational goals are made chronically salient by schematic perceptions of the social world, which are in turn the result of the linear combination [and possible interaction] of sociostructural characteristics and stable individual differences in personality [see Duckitt & Sibley, 2010, for a review]. The model thus makes explicit predictions about the direction of causal effects between personality, ideology and prejudice.

A good case is emerging from a number of independent longitudinal studies examining causal effects in support of the DPM. SDO and RWA have been shown to exert cross-lagged effects on sexism [Sibley, Wilson, & Duckitt, 2007a], generalized prejudice [Asbrock, Sibley, & Duckitt, 2010], and meritocracy and social policy attitudes over time [Sibley & Duckitt, 2010a]. These and other findings generally suggest that, consistent with the DPM, SDO and RWA prospectively predict prejudice and related system-justifying ideologies. A picture of the variables that predict SDO and RWA longitudinally is also beginning to emerge. Consistent with the DPM, dangerous and competitive worldview have been shown to prospectively predict SDO and RWA over time [Sibley, Wilson, & Duckitt, 2007b] and, of direct relevance to the current investigation, Agreeableness and Openness to Experience have been shown to exert independent cross-lagged effects on SDO and RWA [Sibley & Duckitt, 2010b].

While these studies generally provide support for the predicted direction of effects, there is less evidence ruling out the alternative reverse pathways. In their assessment of the longitudinal effects of personality on SDO and RWA, Sibley and Duckitt [2010b] did not test a full cross-lagged panel design, and thus were unable to examine whether SDO and RWA might exert reciprocal cross-lagged effects on personality. Testing this alternative causal direction is important for the DPM, as a central tenet of the model is that personality should predict ideology and not the reverse. As Sibley and Duckitt [2010b] asserted, if SDO and RWA were shown to have equivalent, or possibly even stronger cross-lagged effects on broad-bandwidth dimensions of personality, this would raise serious questions about whether SDO and RWA are Cognitive-Motivational variables produced by personality, or are more trait-like in nature as Altemeyer [1998] initially implied.

Here we provide the first full cross-lagged design assessing the causal relationships between personality and ideological attitudes in the DPM. In doing so, we test for potential reciprocal effects – in particular whether SDO and RWA predict personality over time.

Participants and procedure

Data were collected from 475 participants [128 male, 347 female; Mage = 19.63, SD = 3.34] at Time 1 [267 White/European, 39 Maori/Pacific Nations, 122 Asian, 34 Indian, 13 ‘other’]. Participants in the Time 1 sample completed the questionnaire voluntarily at the end of undergraduate laboratory sessions. Participants were asked to list their email address on the last page of the survey so that they could be contacted to participate in an online follow-up questionnaire. All participants consented to

Results

Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations between Time 1 and Time 2 measures of Big-Five personality, SDO and RWA are presented in Table 1. As shown, Extraversion [r = .87], Agreeableness [r = .71], Conscientiousness [r = .79], Neuroticism [r = .78], and Openness to Experience [r = .78] were all relatively stable over the 9-month period. SDO [r = .74] and RWA [r = .79] were also fairly stable. Correcting for attenuation due to scale reliability indicated that the measures were all highly stable and

Discussion

This study tested a full cross-lagged model assessing the effects of the Big-Five dimensions of personality, SDO, and RWA on one another over a 9-month period. We observed good support for the predicted cross-lagged effects, with Agreeableness predicting change in SDO, and Openness to Experience predicting change in RWA. These results replicated the pattern of cross-lagged effects observed by Sibley and Duckitt [2010b], and extended prior research by also demonstrating that ideological

Cited by [57]

• The psychology of socio-technical systems: Professionalism, power, and personality in the electricity sector

  2019, Energy Research and Social Science

  For example, the conscientiousness factor can be broken down into a variety of primary factors including order, self-control, responsibility, traditionalism, and industriousness [23], terms that have been used to describe the electric power sector and the types of workers it employs [4,8]. Authoritarianism [political], has been negatively correlated with another one of the big five factors, openness to experience [24], and when combined with other factors may also predict authoritarian tendencies [25]. Higher order big five factors have been shown to predict obedience [26], conformity, and the degree to which individual humans tend to be stable but also rigid, less able to adjust to novelty or change [27].

Recommended articles [6]