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Different meanings of the social dominance orientation concept: Predicting political attitudes over time
Author(s) -
Jetten Jolanda,
Iyer Aarti
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1348/014466609x435723
Subject(s) - social dominance orientation , psychology , biology and political orientation , moderation , social psychology , politics , ideology , hierarchy , dominance (genetics) , dominance hierarchy , construct (python library) , social hierarchy , context (archaeology) , political science , democracy , authoritarianism , aggression , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , computer science , law , gene , programming language
We examined predictors of political attitude change by assessing the independent and interactive effect of social dominance orientation (SDO) as a context‐dependent versus an individual difference construct. In a longitudinal study, British students' political orientation was assessed before entering university (T1) and after being at university for 2 months (T2) and 6 months (T3; N =109). Results showed that initial SDO (T1) did not predict political attitudes change nor did it predict self‐selected entry into course with hierarchy enhancing or hierarchy‐attenuating ideologies. More support was obtained for a contextually determined model whereby SDO (T2) mediated the relationship between social class (T1) and political attitude change (T3). We also found support for mediated moderation in accounting for effects of initial SDO on political attitude change. Findings suggest that SDO as a concept that is sensitive to group dynamics is best suited to explain shifts in political attitudes.