The selection of leaders and social dominance orientation

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1211-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneika L. Simmons ◽  
Elizabeth E. Umphress

Purpose – Individuals who are high in social dominance orientation (SDO) tend to endorse the belief that members of traditionally considered high-status groups should dominate members of traditionally considered low-status groups within society. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how SDO influences the selection of an individual who is a member of a traditionally considered low-status group for a leadership position as opposed to a non-leadership position. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology included undergraduate business students who were investigated in a laboratory setting. Findings – Results indicate that individuals who are high in SDO are more likely to discriminate against the most qualified candidate who is a traditionally considered low-status group member when compared to those low in SDO, and job position moderated this outcome. This effect was stronger when selecting the traditionally considered low-status group member candidate for a leadership role as opposed to a non-leadership position. Originality/value – To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first investigation to examine both leadership and selection using social dominance theory as a theoretical framework. Further, this is the first empirical analysis to determine that the influence of SDO is stronger when an individual high in SDO is selecting a traditionally considered low-status group member for a leadership position as opposed to a non-leadership position.

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 531-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneika L. Simmons ◽  
Rochelle Parks-Yancy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine how social dominance orientation (SDO) might influence perceptions of bias when the race of the offender and the target of the biased comment is either white or black. Design/methodology/approach – This investigation was conducted in a laboratory with undergraduate students. Findings – In a study utilizing American student participants, the authors found that when an individual is high in SDO they are more likely to perceive racism/stereotyping when a low-status group member (i.e. African-American) makes a racially biased comment about high-status group members (i.e. Caucasian). Originality/value – The authors determined the influence of SDO on the perception of racial comments regarding African-Americans and Caucasians. These findings are also unique in that the authors manipulate the authority (i.e. status) of the offender and target.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina L. Carvalho ◽  
Isabel R. Pinto ◽  
Rui Costa-Lopes ◽  
Darío Paéz ◽  
José M. Marques

We discuss the idea that competition-based motives boost low-status group members’ support for group-based hierarchy and inequality. Specifically, the more low-status group members feel motivated to compete with a relevant high-status outgroup, based on the belief that existing status positions may be reversed, the more they will defend status differentials (i.e., high social dominance orientation; SDO). Using minimal groups (N = 113), we manipulated ingroup (low vs. high) status, and primed unstable status positions to all participants. As expected, we found that SDO positively mediates the relation between ingroup identification and collective action, when ingroup’s status is perceived to be low and status positions are perceived as highly unstable. We discuss the implications of considering situational and contextual factors to better understand individuals’ support for group-based hierarchies and inequality, and the advantages of considering ideological processes in predicting collective action.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014616722110360
Author(s):  
Joaquín Bahamondes ◽  
Chris G. Sibley ◽  
Danny Osborne

Although system-justifying beliefs often mitigate perceptions of discrimination, status-based asymmetries in the ideological motivators of perceived discrimination are unknown. Because the content and societal implications of discrimination claims are status-dependant, social dominance orientation (SDO) should motivate perceptions of (reverse) discrimination among members of high-status groups, whereas system justification should motivate the minimization of perceived discrimination among the disadvantaged. We tested these hypotheses using multilevel regressions among a nationwide random sample of New Zealand Europeans ( n = 29,169) and ethnic minorities ( n = 5,118). As hypothesized, group-based dominance correlated positively with perceived (reverse) discrimination among ethnic-majority group members, whereas system justification correlated negatively with perceived discrimination among the disadvantaged. Furthermore, the proportion of minorities within the region strengthened the victimizing effects of SDO-Dominance, but not SDO-Egalitarianism, among the advantaged. Together, these results reveal status-based asymmetries in the motives underlying perceptions of discrimination and identify a key contextual moderator of this association.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Kotlyar ◽  
Leonard Karakowsky ◽  
Mary Jo Ducharme ◽  
Janet A. Boekhorst

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine how status-based labels, based on future capabilities, can impact people's risk tolerance in decision making. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper the authors developed and tested theoretical arguments using a set of three studies employing a scenario-based approach and a total of 449 undergraduate business students. Findings – The findings suggest that labeling people in terms of future capabilities can trigger perceptions of public scrutiny and influence their risk preferences. Specifically, the results reveal that individuals who are recipients of high-status labels tend to choose lower risk decision options compared to their peers. Research limitations/implications – The study employed scenarios to examine the issue of employee labeling. The extent to which these scenarios have truly captured the dynamics of labeling is questionable, and future research should employ a field-based study to examine whether the reported effect can be observed in a “real” work context. Practical implications – Organizations are concerned about their future leadership capacity and often attempt to grow leadership talent by identifying high-potential employees early on. The results of this study suggest that such practice may have an unintentional negative effect of reducing high-potentials’ tolerance toward risky decision making, thus potentially impacting these future leaders’ decision making in the realm of corporate strategy, R&D, etc. Originality/value – The issue of how labeling individuals in terms of future capabilities can impact their risk preference has been largely ignored by organizational research. This paper suggests that the popular practice of identifying high-potential employees may have unintentional negative effects by lowering their risk tolerance.


Author(s):  
Daniel Martin ◽  
Yotam Heineberg

Leadership is usually a mandatory component of business education. Here we used the model of transformational leadership, and operationalized leadership consistently with the Values in Action Leadership scale. Social dominance orientation is a hierarchical belief-system that attributes social rank, ranging from high to low. Business students have been found to have higher levels of Social Dominance Orientation (SDO. Accordingly, 371 working business students were sampled to establish the relationship between SDO and transformational leadership capacity. The mediational impact of compassion was assessed. This study found high levels of competitive and hierarchical world conceptualization was significantly and sometimes strongly negatively linked to these constructs (Martin et al., 2014). We also discuss preliminary results of an interpersonal compassion-based intervention. The research suggests the opportunity to broaden psychological well-being of employees with impactful interventions, since negative behaviors within an institution can raise healthcare costs and lower job performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Robyn Mooney

Purpose In Canada, if it can be proven that a defendant was suffering from a mental disorder at the time they committed an offense, they can be found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD). These cases are often decided by jury. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the dark triad (DT), social dominance orientation (SDO) and belief in a just world (BJW) on undergraduate students’ attitudes toward the NCRMD defense. Design/methodology/approach A total of 421 undergraduate students completed questionnaires measuring SDO and the DT. After being primed for high, low or neutral BJW, they indicated their attitudes toward NCRMD. Findings The BJW manipulation had no effect on attitudes. High-SDO/DT participants held less favorable attitudes toward NCRMD than participants who scored low on these variables, F(1, 420)=20.65, p<0.01, η p 2 = 0.05 . Psychology and criminology students had significantly more favorable attitudes toward NCRMD than business students. Practical implications This study can be helpful in improving jury impartiality in trials involving mental illness and criminal responsibility; assessment of SDO and the DT; awareness of career roles relating to insanity defense bias; and improving the voir dire process. Originality/value The results of this study may be used to improve the voir dire process in trials involving the issue of mental illness and criminal responsibility and to preserve the impartiality of the jurors selected for these trials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 202171
Author(s):  
Theo Toppe ◽  
Susanne Hardecker ◽  
Franca Zerres ◽  
Daniel B. M. Haun

Past research suggests that children favour their in-group members over out-group members as indicated by selective prosociality such as sharing or social inclusion. This preregistered study examined how playing a cooperative, competitive or solitary game influences German 4- to 6-year-olds’ in-group bias and their general willingness to act prosocially, independent of the recipient's group membership ( N = 144). After playing the game, experimenters introduced minimal groups and assessed children's sharing with an in-group and an out-group member as well as their social inclusion of an out-group member into an in-group interaction. Furthermore, we assessed children's physical engagement and parents' social dominance orientation (SDO)—a scale indicating the preference for inequality among social groups—to learn more about inter-individual differences in children's prosocial behaviours. Results suggest that children showed a stronger physical engagement while playing competitively as compared with cooperatively or alone. The different gaming contexts did not impact children's subsequent in-group bias or general willingness to act prosocially. Parental SDO was not linked to children's prosocial behaviours. These results indicate that competition can immediately affect children's behaviour while playing but raise doubt on the importance of cooperative and competitive play for children's subsequent intergroup and prosocial behaviour.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-42
Author(s):  
Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu ◽  
Rita Amoah Bekoe ◽  
Sarah Anobil Okyere ◽  
Edem Emerald Welbeck

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the course major decisions of accounting and non-accounting students. Design/methodology/approach A set of questionnaires was developed and administered to 550 undergraduate business students from the University of Ghana Business School. Statistical tests were conducted to examine the mean differences of students’ views on the factors that influence course major selection. Logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the factors that influence the course major selection of students. Findings The results demonstrate that students’ confidence in their academic strength and abilities to manage academic work are good predictors of their course major decisions. Also, students who major in accounting are driven more by self-interest, while non-accounting students are largely motivated by extrinsic interest. Moreover, students’ academic performances were found to be influential on their course major decisions. Research limitations/implications This study relied on the views of students from only one university in Ghana, which, in some respect, limits the extent of generalization of the findings. Practical implications The paper provides some useful insights into the factors that inspire students to major in accounting. As a means of addressing the supply deficit of accountants globally, policymakers should find the results useful in developing the appropriate strategy that will attract students to the accounting field. Originality/value The study provides new insights into the course major selection discourse from a developing-country perspective.


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