hierarchy and power

Question 1

who founded social dominance orientation?

Answer 1

Sidanius and Pratto (2009)

Question 2

what is social dominance theory?

Answer 2

• group-based hierarchies are universal and unavoidable, and every attempt to abolish these hierarchies have failed
• most intergroup conflict stems form the existence of these hierarchies
• people and institutions exist along a continuum among those that are “hierarchy enforcing” or “hierarchy attenuating”
• hierarchy maintenance requires coordination among both high-status and low-status people

Question 3

what is the social dominance orientation scale?

Answer 3

• individual difference measure, meant to capture variation in the extent to which someone believes society should have group-based hierarchies
• asks to what extent people are not bothered by hierarchies and believe that they are natural
• more agreement with items -> higher in SDO -> higher on belief that hierarchies are natural

Question 4

what other factors is SDO predictive of?

Answer 4

• conservative political ideology
• explicit racial preference (for white over Black people)
• gender: men are higher on SDO than women

Question 5

what are the psychological effects of low power/status?

Answer 5

• scarcity -> high cognitive load -> less rational decision-making and more risk-taking behaviours
• increased focus on immediate short-term problems

Question 6

what were the three stratification systems outlined by Sidanius and Pratto in their work on social dominance theory?

Answer 6

1. age system
2. gender system
3. arbitrary-set sytem

Question 7

according to Sidanius and Pratto in their work on social dominance theory, which type of stratification system is associated with the greatest degree of violence, brutality and oppression?

Answer 7

arbitrary-set system

Question 8

what are the 3 primary assumptions of social dominance theory?

Answer 8

1. while age- and gender-based hierarchies exist within all systems, arbitrary-set systems emerge within social systems producing sustainable economic surplus
2. most forms of conflict or oppression can be regarded as different manifestations of the basic human tendency to form group-based social hierarchies
3. human social systems are subject to the counterbalancing influences of hierarchy-enhancing and hierarchy-attenuating forces

Question 9

according to Sidanius and Pratto’s work on social dominance theory, what are the three processes that drive group-based social hierarchy?

Answer 9

1. aggregated individual discrimination
2. aggregated institutional discrimination
3. behavioural asymmetry

Question 10

according to Sidanius and Pratto’s work on social dominance theory, what are the 4 types of behavioural asymmetry?

Answer 10

1. asymmetrical ingroup bias
2. outgroup favouritism or difference
3. self-debilitation
4. ideological asymmetry