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The Ideological Legitimation of the Status Quo: Longitudinal Tests of a Social Dominance Model
Author(s) -
Sibley Chris G.,
Duckitt John
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2009.00747.x
Subject(s) - social dominance orientation , ideology , system justification , dominance (genetics) , meritocracy , status quo , disadvantaged , social psychology , politics , legitimation , opposition (politics) , authoritarianism , social group , psychology , sociology , demographic economics , political science , democracy , economics , law , biology , biochemistry , gene
Four studies examined whether members of the dominant group (New Zealand Europeans) who were high in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) employed ideologies of equality‐as‐meritocracy to legitimate opposition toward policy‐based resource allocations that favor disadvantaged groups. We tested this model, derived from Social Dominance Theory, using cross‐sectional (Study 1; N = 338) and longitudinal data (Studies 2–4) collected in New Zealand. As predicted, SDO (but not Right‐Wing Authoritarianism) exerted a cross‐lagged effect on Equality Positioning and not vice‐versa (Study 2; 1 year, N = 81); Equality Positioning exerted a cross‐lagged effect on attitudes toward resource‐specific social policies but not vice‐versa (Study 3; 4 months, N = 132); and the cross‐lagged effect of SDO on attitudes toward resource‐specific policy was mediated longitudinally by Equality Positioning (Study 4; 1 year, N = 47). These findings indicate that the ideological positioning of equality is (at least partially) driven by individual differences in the motivation for group‐based social dominance, and this in turn determines support for social and political policies that govern the group‐based allocation of resources within society and thus systemic inequality.