Jarosław Klebaniuk
Instytut Psychologii, Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Abstract:
The attitude toward the hierarchical social order has been a subject of interest for social dominance theory (SDT: Sidanius, & Pratto, 1999) and system justification theory (SJT: Jost, & Banaji, 1994), among others. Both notice that situational variables can influence attitudes to inequality. The present study examined the effects of the experimentally created informational context on perception of social world. In three experimental conditions the texts emphasizing economic differences between countries, and in the control condition – differences in population density, were presented to the participants (N=512). Contrary to expectations, persons who were informed about the low status of their group, showed higher social dominance orientation and lower system justification. They also rated social world as evil (competitive and dangerous). The participants who experienced weaker bond with their national group, and at the same time were not encouraged to think about international inequalities, were inclined to accept the hierarchical inter-group order to a somewhat smaller extent. The interrelationships can be explained by the SJT rather than the SDT.
Keywords: social dominance orientation, system justification, social inequalities, perception of social world, sympathy
Cite this article as:
Klebaniuk, J. (2010). Social dominance orientation and system justification in the context of international inequalities. Psychologia Społeczna, 13, 42–56.