RESUMO

La teoría de la dominancia social (SDO) explica el nivel en que las personas aceptan o rechazan las ideologías que le imprimen legitimidad a las jerarquías y la discriminación o a la igualdad y justicia. Este estudio aplica SDO en México y investiga si la dominancia social en abstracto tiene conexión con la aprobación de la discriminación en concreto (usando los casos de Lady de Profeco, Ladies de Polanco y Gentleman de las Lomas). Predecimos (1) que los hombres, los participantes de mayor edad y los que provienen de clases sociales más altas mostrarían niveles más altos de SDO; y (2) que la aprobación de discriminación será determinada por el nivel de SDO (alto > bajo) y por clase social (alta > media > baja). Participantes fueron N=150 miembros del publico en el DF. Llenaron cuestionarios en la calle, midiendo sexo, edad, lugar de residencia, SDO y aprobación de discriminación. Los resultados generalmente aportaron las hipótesis. Hombres tenían puntajes mas altos de SDO que mujeres, pero las clases sociales mas bajas que altas tenían niveles mas altos de SDO. Hubo una correlación positiva entre SDO y aprobación de discriminación. Los resultados se discutieron en términos de diferencias en educación y movilidad social.

Social dominance orientation/theory (SDO) explains the extent to which individuals accept or reject ideologies that legitimize hierarchies and discrimination or equality and social justice. Numerous studies have shown that SDO predicts a wide range of political, ideological, and intergroup phenomena, particularly in relation to negativity towards minorities and outgroups. The aims of the present study were to apply the SDO scale in a Mexican context; examine differences in SDO according to sex, age group, and social class; and investigate whether an orientation towards social dominance would be detectable not only on an abstract level but a concrete level, that of approving inter-class discrimination. We predicted that (1) SDO would be higher in men than women, older than younger participants, and upper rather than lower social classes, (2) that approval of discrimination would be determined by SDO and social class, and (3) that SDO would correlate with approval of discrimination. Participants were N=150 members of the public in Mexico City, with a mean age of 35.3 years (range: 18-74) and from areas of different social classes. Participants completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires on the street. We measured demographics (sex, age, place of residence), a 16-item SDO scale (e.g., "Some people are just more deserving than others") with a Cronbach's alpha of .83, and three instances of discriminatory behavior on the part of upper-class members towards lower-class members, alpha=.90, e.g.: "The behavior of the 'Ladies of Polanco' insulting a police officer is justified". All items were measured on 5-point Likert-type scales, from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Results were generally in line with the hypotheses. A three-way ANOVA on social dominance showed significant effects of sex and place of residence, but not age group nor significant interactions. Men scored significantly higher than women on social dominance, providing evidence for the "invariance hypothesis". Unexpectedly, lower-class participants showed highest levels of SDO, followed by middle-class and upper-class participants. A two-way ANOVA on approval of discrimination showed significant effects of place of residence and SDO and a significant interaction. Middle-class participants showed significantly higher levels of approval of discrimination than the other two classes. SDO correlated with approval of discrimination. Unexpected effects might be due to differential levels of education among social classes and/or to social mobility. The present study is the first investigation of SDO in Mexico and shows the link between an abstract orientation towards social hierarchies and approval of class-based discrimination in everyday life.