The present study examined the effects of societal threat on levels of authoritarianism and social dominance orientation and investigated if those self-report measures were consistent or inconsistent with a measure of implicit attitudes regarding Americans and Immigrants. Exposure to societal threat was hypothesized to increase authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, as well as to increase implicit prejudicial attitudes, as measured by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP), towards out-group members. Based on prior findings, men were expected to have higher levels of social dominance orientation. As predicted, exposure to societal threat significantly increased right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. Additionally, men endorsed greater levels of social dominance orientation than did women. However, there were no statistically significant differences in implicit attitudes between the participants who were exposed to societal threat and those who were not (all p’s > .05).

For various reasons, certain races tend to play particular sports. Sports with low costs of participation (e.g., basketball and football) have higher percentages of minority participants relative to sports with high costs of participation (e.g., golf). In addition to the cost of participation being a deterrent, stereotypes can also play a role into who plays various sports. Certain races tend to feel most competent in a particular sport (e.g., African Americans in basketball). This study focuses on the degree to which stereotypes contribute to the under representative rates of minorities in golf, compared to their overrepresented White counterparts. Data were collected from 217 students at a large US public university. A pilot test was used to develop a scale depicting the "general golfer." In the primary study, participants used a 7-point scale to rate the degree to which the "general golfer," Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans exhibited these characteristics. Examples of these characteristics include "refined", "etiquette", and "skillfulness." The scale items were all reliable. The correlation between the general golfer and Whites was the strongest (r = .50), followed by Asians (r = .36), Hispanics (r = .29), and African Americans (r = .23). The correlation between the general golfer and Whites was significantly stronger than correlations between the general golfer and African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians, t's > 2.3, p's < .05. In addition, Whites were viewed as more appropriate for golf relative to racial minorities. Stereotypes can influence which races people view as appropriate and not appropriate for golf. These stereotypes can in turn impact participation, or lack thereof, of certain races in golf. If certain racial groups are not considered appropriate for a sport in which mental strength, etiquette, and persistence are valued, this could also impact access to jobs in which these characteristics are also valued. In addition, these stereotypes can potentially lead to self-limiting behavior by the negatively affected races.

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.

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.

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.

<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.

Över 6000 personer söker till de 900 lediga studieplatserna vid polishögskolan vid varje ansökningstillfälle. Urvalet för att tillsätta dessa platser är således stort. Kritik har dock riktats mot polisens urvalsprocess som har utpekats för inte tillräckligt kunna identifiera och gallra ut olämpliga individer med låg och bristfällig respekt och inställning till andra människor och olikheter. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka skillnader i fördomar mellan två grupper; sökande till, och studerande vid polishögskolan (N=84) och jämföra dessa med en ickepolisiär kontrollgrupp. Fördomarna mättes med tre moderna fördomsfullhetsskalor; rasism, sexism och fördomar mot homosexuella. Studien undersökte även undersökningsdeltagarnas personlighetstyper med Big-Five Inventory (BFI), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) och Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). Inga skillnader mellan grupperna i fördomsfullhet hittades, dock visade sig kombinationen av BFI, RWA och SDO vara bra på att predicera fördomsfullhet. Resultaten diskuterades och polisutbildningens urvalsprocess uppmanas reflektera över införande av motsvarande personlighetstest.

Previous researchers have often speculated about the role of risk taking in creativity, however this association has rarely been systematically investigated. This thesis explores the association between domain specific risk taking and creativity in human participants. It presents a systematic review of the speculations and scientific studies which aimed at uncovering the association between creativity and risk taking in various populations. This discussion aims to bring together the current knowledge centred around the link between risk taking and creativity and poses two overarching questions – Are creative individuals risk takers and if so, is this association domain specific? In five studies, the present research investigated these questions and found that creativity is strongly associated with risk taking in the social domain (but not in the financial, ethical, health/ safety or recreational domains). Additionally, with an aim to further disentangle the association between creativity and risk taking in specific populations and social situations, this thesis explored creativity in a specific group of individuals (sexual minority) who are speculated to be highly creative and are known to be more likely to take health/ safety risks such as smoking tobacco, consuming illegal drugs or engaging in unsafe sexual encounters. It was found that sexual minority (specifically bisexual individuals) were highly creative and were also more likely to take risks in various domains. As opposed to the sexual minority, another group of individuals in which creativity and risk taking are hypothesised to be different, consists of individuals who subscribe to the right-wing socio-political ideologies. As predicted, individuals who affiliated to the right-wing socio-political ideologies (in the United States) were found to be low on creativity and were significantly less likely to take risks, specifically in the social domain. A mediating role of social risk taking on the relationship between sociopolitical attitudes and creativity was also found. The research work presented in this thesis illustrates the role that social risk taking plays in creativity and paves way for the development of new ways to foster creativity.