Definition
An individual difference variable tapping generalized support for group-based inequality and hierarchy.
Introduction
Following the carnage of WWII, social scientists became heavily invested in explaining intergroup relations (and prejudice in particular). One early influential approach involved the measurement and study of individual differences, especially authoritarianism (Adorno et al. 1950; Allport 1954). In brief, researchers established that some people, relative to others, are more likely to be ethnocentric in orientation and express prejudices toward a range of groups (e.g., Blacks, immigrants, Jews). Central to the concept of authoritarianism generally, and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA; Altemeyer 1996) in particular, was the recognition that some people are predisposed toward being (a) submissive and obedient toward authorities (e.g., church leaders, parents), (b) conventional and traditional (e.g., valuing customs and rituals), and (c) aggressive against those...
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Hodson, G., Hoffarth, M.R. (2020). Social Dominance Orientation. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1183
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