Political Gender Gap and Social Dominance Orientation

Abstract

In the last 30 years, there was a rise in the political gender gap. The Center for the American Woman and Politics data shows that a larger proportion of women than men vote for the Democratic Party. Women tend to differ from men in several political issues endorsing more welfare policies and progressive policy changes and are less racist than men. Social dominance orientation (SDO) has been theorized to account for political gender differences. Men have higher average levels of SDO than women, everything else being equal. To test the gender invariance hypothesis, we believe it's important to take into consideration people who not only identify with groups that hold specific hierarchy-enhancing or hierarchy-attenuating ideologies but who participate in them promoting their values and ideas. In this chapter, we describe the findings of research on gender differences in SDO of activists in political parties that range from extreme left-wing to extreme right-wing.

Backlash against the #MeToo movement: How women’s voice causes men to feel victimized

“…That is, those “at the top” defend what they have from those “at the bottom” to protect their group’s advantages (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). For instance, men endorse hierarchy-enhancing beliefs to a greater extent than women because they are more invested in maintaining their position (Mebane et al, 2020). Further, White survey respondents in the US and South Africa resist policies that redistribute resources to disadvantaged racial groups (Bobo, 1999; Dixon et al, 2012), and even men who claim to have positive attitudes toward women often believe that women should live and behave in ways that confine them to subordinate social roles (Dixon et al, 2012; Jackman, 1994).…”

“…For example, 37% of women who were registered to vote in 2017 identified with or leaned towards the Republican Party (Pew Research Center, 2018). And although men have been shown to endorse greater social dominance orientation overall (i.e., greater desire for group-based dominance and hierarchies; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999), extreme right-wing women have significantly higher SDO than men who belong to left-wing parties (Mebane et al, 2020). That is, the motivation to hold up the gender hierarchy is not unique to men and, therefore, both men and women may actively participate in the backlash against the movement.…”

Backlash against the #MeToo movement: How women's voice causes men to feel victimized

“…For instance, men endorse hierarchy enhancing beliefs to a greater extent than women because they are more invested in maintaining their position (Mebane et al, 2020). Further, White survey respondents in the U.S. and South Africa resist policies that redistribute resources to disadvantaged racial groups (Bobo, 1999;Dixon et al, 2012), and even men who claim to have positive attitudes toward women often believe that women should live and behave in ways that confine them to subordinate social roles (Dixon et al, 2012;Jackman, 1994).…”

Social worldviews and social attitudes: Examining the psychological correlates for other-concern

“…The authors proposed that SDO explains why people would be receptive to or unwelcoming of inequality-promoting ways of life between and among social groups. SDO motivates discriminatory attitudes towards individuals or groups that are considered as different, strangers, minority, or inferior (Kleppestø et al, 2019;Mebane et al, 2020;Nilsson & Jost, 2020). With a SDO an individual shows a penchant for ideas and policies that widen inequality or enhance hierarchy.…”