Social dominance influences many aspects of the life of animals living in social groups, including fitness. Recent work suggests that individuals occupying different positions in a dominance hierarchy may differ in their behavioural and cognitive traits. The first objective of this thesis was to determine whether personality (i.e. consistent behavioural differences between individuals) is correlated with dominance in natural groups of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) in the wild. Dominance relationships within these groups were highly asymmetrical and transitive, which is typical of linear dominance hierarchies. None of the measured personality traits (i.e. aggressiveness in hand, exploration, activity and neophilia) were significantly correlated with dominance. These results suggest that personality does not contribute to the formation of black-capped chickadee hierarchies and add to the growing body of evidence that inherent attributes of individuals are not sufficient to explain the structure of linear dominance hierarchies observed in the wild. The second objective of this thesis was to investigate how dominance and correlates of competitive ability (i.e. sex, age and body condition) are related to novel problem-solving performance, which is a proxy for innovativeness, the invention of new behavioural patterns or the modification of an existing behaviour in a novel context. Problem-solving performance was not significantly associated with sex, age or body condition, but dominants were more efficient problem-solvers than subordinates. This finding suggests that efficiency when solving a novel problem might be driven by cognitive capacity instead of the necessity induced by the social position of an individual. Overall, results of this thesis help to better understand dominance hierarchies in wild groups of animals.

This dissertation explored the relationships among social injustice, social dominance orientation, aggression, and cyberbullying across Chinese and American populations. Direct effect and mediation models were proposed to test the explanatory power of perceived social injustice on the likelihood of cyberbullying. Twelve hypothesized social injustice scenarios written with first person perspective and based on three types of perceived social injustice (distributive, procedural, interactional), two social settings (pay, power), and two levels of injustice (high, low) were created to test four groups of hypotheses on the relationship between social factors and cyberbullying. Data were collected from an online survey site. A total of 639 Chinese participants and 484 American participants were randomly assigned to one of the 12 scenarios and then instructed to complete the survey based on the way they were treated in the scenarios. Participants were asked to report the level of their social dominance orientation, perceived injustice based on the scenarios, level of aggression, and likelihood of cyberbullying. Demographic characteristics of the participants were also recorded. Results revealed that (a) perceived distributive injustice positively predicts likelihood of cyberbullying among both American and Chinese participants, (b) perceived interactional injustice positively predicts the likelihood of cyberbullying only among Chinese participants, (c) the level of proactive aggression mediates the effect of perceived distributive injustice on the likelihood of cyberbullying, (d) the level of reactive aggression mediates the effect of perceived procedural and interactional injustices on the likelihood of cyberbullying, and (e) social dominance orientation negatively predicts three types of perceived social injustice and positively predicts the likelihood of cyberbullying. The theoretical and practical contributions of the dissertation are discussed. / Media & Communication

Thesis advisor: Janet E Helms / Asian-born racially and culturally dominant group members (ABDs) enjoy greater social, political, and economic power and privileges in their Asian home countries, but their migration to a White dominant society in the US changes their social status as presumed members of Asian American racial and ethnic groups. However, it is not known how ABDs’ disparate psychological experiences of social dominance across two cultural contexts affect their racial and acculturation-related experiences in the US. Thus, the current study investigated the interactions among social dominance orientation, experiences with anti-Asian racism, racial identity schemas, and acculturation strategies of ABDs. Asian-born individuals, self-identified majorities in their Asian home countries (N =192), completed a demographic questionnaire and measures that assessed their levels of social dominance orientation (SDO), racism distress levels, racial identity schemas, and acculturation strategies. Multivariate multiple regression analyses and simple linear moderation analyses were used to investigate relationships among SDO and racism distress and racial identity schemas and acculturation strategies. The findings showed that ABDs’ levels of SDO and racism distress were related to ABDs’ racial identity schemas. ABDs’ levels of SDO were positively related to their use of the Assimilation strategy in the US, but not to other types of acculturation strategies. Moreover, racism distress levels did not moderate the relationships between ABDs’ levels of SDO and their racial identity schemas, or between SDO and acculturation strategies. ABDs’ racial identity schemas and acculturation strategies were related and SDO moderated the relationships between racial identity and acculturation. In this exploratory study to examine Asian acculturation strategies and racial identity, the obtained results suggest that ABDs’ preferences for social hierarchy have implications for their racial and acculturation processes in the US. Limitations and implications of the results for research and clinical practice are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Racial and gender discrimination in the workplace is still prevalent in western society. Authoritarian organizational hierarchies may further embed stereotypes and prejudice that reduce the likelihood for inclusion and equity within organizations. Democracy as an alternative governance structure for organizations has been proposed and practiced in organizations within western societies demonstrating effectiveness in reducing class disparities, but limited work has investigated racial and gender-based disparities. Employees working in democratically and non-democratically governed organizations were surveyed on their level of participation in organizational governance and attitudes toward their organization. Employees within democratically governed organizations experience on average higher positive job attitudes compared to employees in non-democratically governed organizations regardless of gender or race. It is found that women, Asian American, and Pacific Islander employees participate in organizational governance at equivalent rates as White male colleagues, but Black, Indigenous, and People of Color employees do not. Members of minoritized groups within democratically governed organizations experience similar feelings influence over organizational outcomes and psychological ownership compared to their White male colleagues. Findings also imply having an ownership stake in the organization plays a significant role individual participation but cannot fully account for racial disparities in participation rates within democratically governed organizations. These results imply democratically governed organizations may effectively increase racial and gender inclusion and equity, but not fully reduce existing racial disparities. Future work should continue to explore additional mechanisms that influence individual participation in organizational governance and how perceptions of status and competence differentiate between governance structures within organizations.

Research has established a link between LGBTQ+ identity and high victimization rates. However, transgender experiences specifically are not well understood because they are often subsumed under the monolithic label of LGBTQ+ experiences, despite the specific risks associated with non-normative gender identities. It has also been established that the police function is grounded in the maintenance of the dominant social order. Given that LGBTQ+ individuals, and transgender individuals in particular, are disruptive of the social order, many of their interactions with police have been negative. In this study, I examine how varying degrees of "visible" gender nonconformity affect a transgender individual's comfort level with asking for police help. I hypothesize that transgender people who visibly transgress gender norms by physically presenting as a gender that does not match their government-issued identification will be less comfortable asking the police for help than transgender individuals who do not have such incongruence. Through a logistic regression analysis of the 2015 United States Transgender Survey, I find that those groups who visibly transgress gender norms have a higher likelihood of experiencing discomfort with asking for police help. These findings have important implications for our understanding of transgender victimization by elucidating the barriers to police officers' ability to prevent or lessen the effects of victimization within the transgender community. / Master of Science / Research has established a link between LGBTQ+ identity and high victimization rates. However, transgender experiences specifically are not well understood because they are often grouped in under the monolithic label of LGBTQ+ experiences, despite the specific risks associated with non-normative gender identities. It has also been established that the police function is grounded in the maintenance of the status quo. Given that LGBTQ+ individuals, and transgender individuals in particular, disrupt the status quo, many of their interactions with police have been negative. In this study, I examine how varying degrees of "visible" gender nonconformity affect a transgender individual's comfort level with asking for police help. I hypothesize that transgender people who visibly transgress gender norms by physically presenting as a gender that does not match their driver's license or state identification card will be less comfortable asking the police for help than transgender individuals who do not have such incongruence. Through a logistic regression analysis of the 2015 United States Transgender Survey, I find that those groups who visibly transgress gender norms have a higher likelihood of experiencing discomfort with asking for police help. These findings have important implications for our understanding of transgender victimization by elucidating the barriers to police officers' ability to prevent or lessen the effects of victimization within the transgender community.

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of handling peri-puberal heifers for 2 h each week on in-chute behavior, isolation behavior, and the time required for each heifer to leave the testing area; and to determine if the location of the facial hair whorl was associated with any of the behavior scores or social dominance order. Crossbred beef heifers (n = 146) were assigned to be walked through, sorted and moved through a chute for 2 hr each wk for 20 wk (HANDLED) or allowed to remain on pasture unless handling was required to treat an injury or disease (CONTROL). In-chute behavior, isolation behavior and exit times were observed and scored at the beginning (0 wk), middle (10 wk) and end of the experiment (20 wk). The facial hair whorl on each heifer was classified as being high (above the eyes), middle (between the eyes), or low (below the eyes). At the end of the experiment pairs of heifers in the HANDLED group competed for a feed source and a social dominance order was estimated. Weekly handling decreased in-chute behavior scores of heifers with facial hair whorl positions classified as medium or low, but not in heifers that exhibited a hair whorl high on their face. Cattle in the HANDLED treatment group which had an initial isolation score of 2 or 3 had the greatest improvement in temperament over the entire experiment when compared to CONTROL animals with the same initial isolation score. The calmest heifers were not negatively affected by the handling, while the most agitated animals in the HANDLED had a similar overall change in isolation score as those animals in the CONTROL group. This indicates that while weekly handling improved the temperament and behavior of heifers with intermediate temperament rating at the outset of the experiment, weekly handling seemed unnecessary for the calmest heifers and did not have a beneficial effect on the heifers rated as the most nervous and agitated at the beginning of the experiment. Social dominance rankings were positively correlated (P < 0.10) with final in-chute behavior scores, but not with the other behavior scores or heifer body weight. Cattle with the hair whorls in the middle of the forehead had higher mean social dominant rank than those with hair whorls higher or lower on the face (P < 0.03). Overall, the results of this experiment indicate that behavior testing can reveal differences in the temperament of heifers and that, other than the most nervous and agitated heifers; repeated handling could serve to improve the temperament of the animals. / Master of Science

Climate change denial has been found to correlate with sociopolitical ideology. The general aim of the present thesis was to investigate this relation, and more specifically to 1) test the unique effects of intercorrelated ideological variables on denial, and 2) investigate the psychological underpinnings of the ideology-denial relation. This approach helps estimating what component of right-wing ideology better explains climate change denial; resistance to change (indexed by left-right/liberal-conservative political orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and system justification), or acceptance of inequality (indexed by social dominance orientation [SDO]). In Paper I, SDO outperformed the effects of right-wing authoritarianism and political left-right orientation on denial (Study 1 and 2). Further, the SDO-denial relation was stable when denial scores were experimentally lowered by a newscast that communicated supportive evidence for climate change (Study 2). Thus, the following studies focused specifically on the SDO-denial relation by testing path models that also included other ideological variables (political conservatism, system justification, and endorsement of nature dominance), as well as personality variables (dominance, empathy, openness to experience, and anxiety avoidance) and/or gender. In Paper II, SDO and endorsement of nature dominance explained unique parts of climate change denial, and both of these variables mediated the effects of system justification and (low) empathy on denial. SDO mediated also the effect of dominance. In Paper III, focusing specifically on denial of human-induced climate change, SDO either partially or fully mediated the effects of political conservatism and gender across two cultural contexts (Brazil and Sweden). Additional analyses extended these results, by building on the model presented in Paper II. These analyses showed that SDO (and in some cases also political conservatism and endorsement of nature dominance) fully mediated the effects of gender and personality variables on denial, with one exception: Predisposition to avoid experiencing anxiety predicted denial directly, as well as through a link via general conservative ideology (system justification or political conservatism). In sum, the results indicate that denial is more strongly and consistently predicted by SDO than by the other included variables. Thus, endorsement of group-based inequality/hierarchies offers an important explanation for climate change denial.

Research on intergroup contact (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006) has shown it to be an effective measure of reducing prejudice, and further studies have shown parasocial intergroup contact to be effective as well (Ortiz & Harwood, 2007). This research is incredibly important when studying people with high Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), who tend to favor social hierarchies and disparities between groups. The present study will focus on the interaction of SDO and type of intergroup contact on prejudice. Over the course of a month-long longitudinal study, participants will either be assigned to a face-to-face contact condition, interviewing an immigrant confederate in-person, or to a parasocial contact condition, watching an interview of this confederate on a computer screen. Given past research, both types of contact are predicted to increase favorable attitudes toward immigrants and decrease racism, although face-to-face contact is likely to be most impactful. Low SDO individuals are predicted to maintain low levels of prejudice, while high SDO individuals are predicted to experience a larger difference in racism and attitudes toward immigrants. It is expected that those high in SDO and placed in the face-to-face condition will experience the largest difference in racism and attitudes toward immigrants, compared to the other groups, demonstrating an interaction effect. Implications for intergroup contact and the media will be discussed.

<p>This thesis is based on three papers where I examine some aspects of ethnic and gender-based prejudice and discrimination in hierarchical situations. In Paper I, the existence of ethnic hierarchies in Sweden is explored. Both immigrant and ethnic Swedes were asked to report their social distance to a number of ethnic groups represented in their geographical area. The results showed that hierarchies exist in Swedish environments and that they are connected with both ethnic prejudice and participants’ tendency to promote and support hierarchies, as expressed in their scores on social dominance orientation (SDO). In Paper II, based on Weiner’s attribution theory, ethnic and gender discrimination in social sanctions (help and punishment) were examined together with SDO in two studies. The results showed that discrimination in line with societal discrimination of subordinated groups was also displayed in the present experimental groups and that participant’s SDO is a factor behind the tendency to discriminate subordinate groups. Paper III examined sex differences in SDO in two studies. One of the strongest factors behind SDO is participant’s sex. Gender identification was tested as a mediator of the effect of sex on SDO. The results from two studies showed that the sex difference in SDO was partially or completely mediated by gender identification. The influence of SDO on formation of hierarchies and discrimination as well as its sex and gender aspects are further discussed.</p>

This thesis is based on three papers where I examine some aspects of ethnic and gender-based prejudice and discrimination in hierarchical situations. In Paper I, the existence of ethnic hierarchies in Sweden is explored. Both immigrant and ethnic Swedes were asked to report their social distance to a number of ethnic groups represented in their geographical area. The results showed that hierarchies exist in Swedish environments and that they are connected with both ethnic prejudice and participants’ tendency to promote and support hierarchies, as expressed in their scores on social dominance orientation (SDO). In Paper II, based on Weiner’s attribution theory, ethnic and gender discrimination in social sanctions (help and punishment) were examined together with SDO in two studies. The results showed that discrimination in line with societal discrimination of subordinated groups was also displayed in the present experimental groups and that participant’s SDO is a factor behind the tendency to discriminate subordinate groups. Paper III examined sex differences in SDO in two studies. One of the strongest factors behind SDO is participant’s sex. Gender identification was tested as a mediator of the effect of sex on SDO. The results from two studies showed that the sex difference in SDO was partially or completely mediated by gender identification. The influence of SDO on formation of hierarchies and discrimination as well as its sex and gender aspects are further discussed.