Correction: Can gender inequality be created without inter-group discrimination?

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236840.].

Can gender inequality be created without inter-group discrimination?

Understanding human societies requires knowing how they develop gender hierarchies, which are ubiquitous. We test whether a simple agent-based dynamic process could create gender inequality. Relying on evidence of gendered status concerns, self-construals, and cognitive habits, our model included a gender difference in how responsive male-like and female-like agents are to others' opinions about the level of esteem for someone. We simulate a population who interact in pairs of randomly selected agents to influence each other about their esteem judgments of self and others. Half the agents are more influenced by their relative status rank during the interaction than the others. Without prejudice, stereotypes, segregation, or categorization, our model produces inter-group inequality of self-esteem and status that is stable, consensual, and exhibits characteristics of glass ceiling effects. Outcomes are not affected by relative group size. We discuss implications for group orientation to dominance and individuals' motivations to exchange.

Power dynamics in intergroup relations.

Power and intergroup relations are complex, multilevel, and dynamic. Using Power Basis Theory, we explain our criteria for deciding whether theory or research addresses intergroup power dynamics: it must (a) address power and not authority or other topics, (b) involve attempted or real change regarding groups and power, or the prevention of change, (c) involve protracted interactions among multiple actors through more than one channel, (d) involve more than one level of social organization (e.g. person, group, superordinate group). We organize our 10-year review by these criteria. Research meeting all our criteria is rare. We explain relevant new theory and new research tools, including multi-level modelling, multi-player games, agent-based models, big data, and machine-learning, that can help fill the gap.

A Comparison of Social Dominance Theory and System Justification: The Role of Social Status in 19 Nations.

This study tests specific competing hypotheses from social dominance theory/realistic conflict theory (RCT) versus system justification theory about the role of social status. In particular, it examines whether system justification belief and effects are stronger among people with low socioeconomic status, and in less socially developed and unequal nations than among better-off people and countries. A cross-national survey was carried out in 19 nations from the Americas, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, and Oceania using representative online samples ( N = 14,936, 50.15% women, Mage = 41.61 years). At the individual level, system justification beliefs, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, national identification, sociopolitical conservatism, sex, age, and social status were measured. At the national level, the human development index and the Gini index were used. Multilevel analyses performed indicated that results fit better with the social dominance/RCT approach, as system justification was higher in high-status and developed nations; further, associations between legitimizing ideologies and system justification were stronger among high-status people.

On power and empowerment.

This study presents a conceptual analysis of social power. The most common theories of power are social-relational, an approach instantiated in a range of contemporary experiments that give participants the chance to control other people's outcomes. The relational approach is also reflected in various analyses of international relations. In comparing and contrasting relational theories of power, I identify logical inconsistencies and shortcomings in their ability to address empowerment and reductions in inequality. In turn, I propose a new ecological conceptualization of empowerment as the state of being able to achieve one's goals and of power as stemming from a combination of the capacity of the party and the affordances of the environment. I explain how this new conceptualization can describe the main kinds of power social relations, avoid logical contradictions, and moreover, distinguish power from agency and from control. This new conceptualization of power as the possibility of meeting goals, coupled with recognizing survival as the fundamental goal of all living things, implies an absolute and not relative or relational standard for power, namely well-being. It also allows us to conceive of power in ways that help address the many social concerns that have motivated research on power.

The nature of social dominance orientation: Theorizing and measuring preferences for intergroup inequality using the new SDO7 scale.

A new conceptualization and measurement of social dominance orientation-individual differences in the preference for group based hierarchy and inequality-is introduced. In contrast to previous measures of social dominance orientation that were designed to be unidimensional, the new measure (SDO7) embeds theoretically grounded subdimensions of SDO-SDO-Dominance (SDO-D) and SDO-Egalitarianism (SDO-E). SDO-D constitutes a preference for systems of group-based dominance in which high status groups forcefully oppress lower status groups. SDO-E constitutes a preference for systems of group-based inequality that are maintained by an interrelated network of subtle hierarchy-enhancing ideologies and social policies. Confirmatory factor and criterion validity analyses confirmed that SDO-D and SDO-E are theoretically distinct and dissociate in terms of the intergroup outcomes they best predict. For the first time, distinct personality and individual difference bases of SDO-D and SDO-E are outlined. We clarify the construct validity of SDO by strictly assessing a preference for dominance hierarchies in general, removing a possible confound relating to support for hierarchy benefitting the ingroup. Consistent with this, results show that among members of a disadvantaged ethnic minority group (African Americans), endorsement of SDO7 is inversely related to ingroup identity. We further demonstrate these effects using nationally representative samples of U.S. Blacks and Whites, documenting the generalizability of these findings. Finally, we introduce and validate a brief 4-item measure of each dimension. This article importantly extends our theoretical understanding of one of the most generative constructs in social psychology, and introduces powerful new tools for its measurement.

Social-structural indices and between-nation differences in HIV prevalence.

Research emphasises the role that social structures play in shaping national HIV prevalence. This study examined how social, economic, and political contexts that may represent the confluence of individual capabilities and environmental affordances or constraints are associated with national HIV prevalence. Based on social-ecological perspectives, we examined social-structural dimensions in relation to national HIV prevalence. The study identified six publicly available nation-level social, political, and economic indices and examined their associations with national 2009 HIV prevalence across 225 nations. National indices, (a) education expenditures, (b) unemployment rate, (c) homicide rate, (d) freedom of religion, and (e) women's social rights, altogether explained 43% of the variability in national HIV prevalence. Education expenditures, homicide rate, and freedom of religion were significant predictors of national HIV prevalence in the multivariate analysis. The present study identified nation-level factors that capture social, economic, and political contexts to explain between-nation differences in HIV prevalence. Findings extend current literature on the social-structural foundation of HIV-risk and the relationship between human rights and health. National safeguards that afford individuals the power to promote general quality of life and protection from structural violence may be most important to lowering overall rates of HIV transmission.

A social-ecological perspective on power and HIV/AIDS with a sample of men who have sex with men of colour.

This paper applies a social-ecological theory of power to posit that individual HIV-related vulnerability stems from how power is leveraged across situations over time. The current study identified six power domains and explored how the interchangeability of power shapes HIV-related vulnerability among men who have sex with men of colour. Data were collected as part of a mixed-methods study on the social networks and experiences of racial/ethnic and sexual minority status. A total of 35 Asian/Pacific Islander, Black and Latino men who have sex with men were recruited and individual in-depth interviews were conducted. Results showed that men who have sex with men of colour actively traded upon various domains to alter their relative power within a given situation. Results suggest that power interchangeability, or the degree to which power from one domain can be leveraged to gain power in another, may shape HIV-related vulnerability. Findings offer a dynamic understanding of the nature of HIV risk as derived from everyday power exchanges and provide theoretical foundation for future work on individual resilience against HIV-related risks over time.

Attitudes toward Arab ascendance: Israeli and global perspectives.

Arab nations are decades behind many other previously colonized nations in developing stronger economies, more democratic institutions, and more autonomy and self-government, in part as a result of external interference. The year 2011 brought the potential for greater Arab autonomy through popular uprisings against autocratic governments in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen, and through the Palestinian request for state recognition by the United Nations. We examined the psychology of support for Arab ascendancy among adults in 14 nations in the Balkans, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America. We predicted and found that people low on social dominance orientation endorsed forming an independent Palestinian state and desired that the Arab uprisings succeed. Rejection of ideologies that legitimize outside interference with Arabs mediated this support. Measures and model results were robust across world regions. We discuss theoretical implications regarding the advent of new ideologies and extending social dominance theory to address international relations.

Sexual positioning and race-based attraction by preferences for social dominance among gay Asian/Pacific Islander men in the United States.

For gay men in the United States, race/ethnicity has been demonstrated to factor importantly into sexual preferences, and race-based beliefs regarding certain racial groups are prevalent within the gay male community. For gay men of color, such beliefs may differentially influence their sexual preferences. Yet, little is known about the social-psychological factors underlying differences in sexual preferences among gay men of color. The present study examined how personal preferences for social hierarchy and dominance may explain variations in sexual positioning preferences, and how this relationship may be further qualified by their race-based sexual attraction among gay Asian/Pacific Islander (API) men. A total of 141 API gay men were recruited to participate in an online survey. Measures assessed participants' sexual positioning preferences, race-based sexual attraction, and preferences for social hierarchy or social dominance orientation (SDO). Self-identified tops scored higher on SDO than bottoms or versatiles. Participants attracted to non-API men scored higher on SDO compared to participants attracted to API men and participants who reported no race-based attraction. Finally, a significant two-way interaction indicated that tops attracted to non-API men scored the highest on SDO, and bottoms with no race-based attraction in men scored the lowest. Race/ethnicity is a prominent factor in sexual attraction and sexual positioning preferences among gay men, and one's proclivity for social hierarchy and dominance explains differences in sexual preferences among API gay men. By demonstrating how API gay men negotiate sexual preferences, present findings help elucidate existing race-based sexual dynamics within gay male culture.

Diversity policy, social dominance, and intergroup relations: predicting prejudice in changing social and political contexts.

In contrast to authors of previous single-nation studies, we propose that supporting multiculturalism (MC) or assimilation (AS) is likely to have different effects in different countries, depending on the diversity policy in place in a particular country and the associated norms. A causal model of intergroup attitudes and behaviors, integrating both country-specific factors (attitudes and perceived norms related to a particular diversity policy) and general social-psychological determinants (social dominance orientation), was tested among participants from countries where the pro-diversity policy was independently classified as low, medium, or high (N = 1,232). Results showed that (a) anti-Muslim prejudice was significantly reduced when the pro-diversity policy was high; (b) countries differed strongly in perceived norms related to MC and AS, in ways consistent with the actual diversity policy in each country and regardless of participants' personal attitudes toward MC and AS; (c) as predicted, when these norms were salient, due to subtle priming, structural equation modeling with country included as a variable provided support for the proposed model, suggesting that the effect of country on prejudice can be successfully accounted by it; and (d) consistent with the claim that personal support for MC and AS played a different role in different countries, within-country mediation analyses provided evidence that personal attitudes toward AS mediated the effect of social dominance orientation on prejudice when pro-diversity policy was low, whereas personal attitudes toward MC was the mediator when pro-diversity policy was high. Thus, the critical variables shaping prejudice can vary across nations.

Social dominance orientation: revisiting the structure and function of a variable predicting social and political attitudes.

Social dominance orientation (SDO) is one of the most powerful predictors of intergroup attitudes and behavior. Although SDO works well as a unitary construct, some analyses suggest it might consist of two complementary dimensions--SDO-Dominance (SDO-D), or the preference for some groups to dominate others, and SDO-Egalitarianism (SDO-E), a preference for nonegalitarian intergroup relations. Using seven samples from the United States and Israel, the authors confirm factor-analytic evidence and show predictive validity for both dimensions. In the United States, SDO-D was theorized and found to be more related to old-fashioned racism, zero-sum competition, and aggressive intergroup phenomena than SDO-E; SDO-E better predicted more subtle legitimizing ideologies, conservatism, and opposition to redistributive social policies. In a contentious hierarchical intergroup context (the Israeli-Palestinian context), SDO-D better predicted both conservatism and aggressive intergroup attitudes. Fundamentally, these analyses begin to establish the existence of complementary psychological orientations underlying the preference for group-based dominance and inequality.

Intergroup consensus/disagreement in support of group-based hierarchy: an examination of socio-structural and psycho-cultural factors.

A meta-analysis examined the extent to which socio-structural and psycho-cultural characteristics of societies correspond with how much gender and ethnic/racial groups differ on their support of group-based hierarchy. Robustly, women opposed group-based hierarchy more than men did, and members of lower power ethnic/racial groups opposed group-based hierarchy more than members of higher power ethnic/racial groups did. As predicted by social dominance theory, gender differences were larger, more stable, and less variable from sample to sample than differences between ethnic/racial groups. Subordinate gender and ethnic/racial group members disagreed more with dominants in their views of group-based hierarchy in societies that can be considered more liberal and modern (e.g., emphasizing individualism and change from traditions), as well as in societies that enjoyed greater gender equality. The relations between gender and ethnic/racial groups are discussed, and implications are developed for social dominance theory, social role theory, biosocial theory, social identity theory, system justification theory, realistic group conflict theory, and relative deprivation theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Interacting like a body: objectification can lead women to narrow their presence in social interactions.

The present experiment tested the impact of sexual objectification on women's behavior in social interactions. We predicted that when objectified, women would narrow their social presence by spending little time talking, particularly when interacting with men. Participants (males and females) gave an oral introduction of themselves to an alleged interaction partner (male or female). Objectification was manipulated by having participants believe their bodies were either visually inspected or not inspected during this introduction. Specifically, participants introduced themselves through a closed-circuit device in one of three conditions: body (videotaped from the neck down), face (videotaped from the neck up), or audio (no videotaping). Women who were in the body condition and thought they were interacting with men spent less time talking than participants in all other groups. In addition, the majority of women disliked the body condition, indicating that they found having their bodies gazed at aversive. Implications for women's behavior in mixed-sex contexts are discussed.

I continue to feel so good about us: in-group identification and the use of social identity--enhancing strategies to reduce intragroup dissonance.

The present research examined the relation between in-group identification and the use of social identity- enhancing strategies for dealing with the discomfort associated with inconsistency between personal beliefs and in-group behavior (intragroup dissonance). Consistent with the hypothesis that social identity-enhancing strategies would be more effective at reducing intragroup dissonance for those highly identified with the in-group, Experiment 1 demonstrated that level of group identification moderated the effectiveness of group affirmation for reducing psychological discomfort associated with intragroup dissonance, but not the effectiveness of self-affirmation. In Experiment 2, which manipulated level of group identification, participants in a high-identification condition, relative to those in a low-identification condition, were more likely to choose to reduce intragroup dissonance with a strategy that enhanced social identity (i.e., out-group derogation) over a strategy less effective at social identity enhancement (i.e., activism to change the behavior of the group). Implications for intergroup relations are discussed.

The irony of harmony: intergroup contact can produce false expectations for equality.

Positive intergroup contact has been a guiding framework for research on reducing intergroup tension and for interventions aimed at that goal. We propose that beyond improving attitudes toward the out-group, positive contact affects disadvantaged-group members' perceptions of intergroup inequality in ways that can undermine their support for social change toward equality. In Study 1, participants were assigned to either high- or low-power experimental groups and then brought together to discuss either commonalities between the groups or intergroup differences. Commonality-focused contact, relative to difference-focused contact, produced heightened expectations for fair (i.e., egalitarian) out-group behavior among members of disadvantaged groups. These expectations, however, proved unrealistic when compared against the actions of members of the advantaged groups. Participants in Study 2 were Israeli Arabs (a disadvantaged minority) who reported the amount of positive contact they experienced with Jews. More positive intergroup contact was associated with increased perceptions of Jews as fair, which in turn predicted decreased support for social change. Implications for social change are considered.

Ethnocentrism and the value of a human life.

Drawing on theories of intergroup prejudice and decision making, the authors examined how much participants valued lives of conationals and enemy civilians. Using decisions made under risk, Experiment 1 showed that Americans valued Iraqi and American lives equally when outcomes for those nations did not compete but valued American lives more under outcome competition. Experiments 2 and 3 extended this finding by illustrating ethnocentric valuation even when large numbers of lives were at stake: The number of lives at stake mattered less for enemy civilians than it did for conational combatants. Experiment 4 provided additional evidence of this ethnocentric indifference to magnitude, regardless of combatant status of the conationals' lives. In all experiments, individual difference measures associated with prejudice (e.g., group identification and prejudice, empathy, social dominance orientation, social attitudes) corresponded to ethnocentric valuation measured in decisions. Results demonstrate that categorization, competitive context, and individual propensities for prejudice influence how much one values lives.

A music-based HIV prevention intervention for urban adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This research examines the process of conducting and evaluating a music-based HIV prevention intervention among urban adolescents, and is informed by the information, motivation, behavioral skills (IMB) model. DESIGN: Musically talented opinion leaders were recruited to write, record, and distribute HIV prevention themed music to their peers to increase HIV prevention motivation, behavioral skills, and behaviors. In this 3-month field experiment, participants were 306 students enrolled in health classes at each of three large multiracial urban high schools (one treatment school; two control schools). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures of HIV prevention information, motivation, behavioral skills, and behaviors, both pre- and postintervention. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Results indicate that the intervention influenced several aspects of HIV prevention motivation, behavioral skills, and condom use and HIV testing behaviors. This research demonstrates that the incorporation of music into HIV prevention interventions for adolescents has the potential to be effective.

Beyond contact: intergroup contact in the context of power relations.

This work investigated how group-based power affects the motivations and preferences that members of advantaged and disadvantaged groups bring to situations of contact. To measure the preferred content of interactions, desires to address particular topics in intergroup contact were assessed for both experimental groups (Study 1) and real groups (Study 2). As predicted, across both studies, the desire to talk about power was greater among members of disadvantaged than of advantaged groups. This difference was mediated by motivation for change in group-based power. Study 2 further demonstrated that more highly identified members of disadvantaged groups wanted to talk about power more. Members of advantaged groups generally preferred to talk about commonalities between the groups more than about group-based power, and this desire was greater with higher levels of identification. However, perceiving that their group's advantage was illegitimate increased the desire of advantaged group members to address power in intergroup interactions.

Racial prejudice, intergroup hate, and blatant and subtle bias of whites toward blacks in legal decision making in the United States

Este estudio examina la naturaleza multidimensional del odio intergrupal y el papel potencialdel odio y del prejuicio, en las expresiones del tratamiento que los estadounidensesblancos dan a los negros dentro del contexto del sistema legal estadounidense. Participantesblancos leyeron un informe acerca de un asalto violento, provocado o no provocado,y perpetrado por un asaltante negro a una víctima blanca. Se evaluaron lasreacciones emocionales y las recomendaciones de castigo (la sentencia a dictar y el apoyoa la pena de muerte). Se encontró apoyo para el modelo doble de odio propuesto porSternberg (2003), según el cual el odio explícito (autoinformado) refleja componentesdiferenciados de negación de la intimidad (por ejemplo, asco y rechazo), pasión (enfadoy miedo) y devaluación/compromiso (por ejemplo, atribuciones de maldad y falta dehumanidad). A su vez, estos componentes actuaban de forma diferente como mediadoresde la punitividad hacia el asaltante. Los resultados pusieron también de manifiesto que,aunque el efecto directo del prejuicio sobre la retribución estaba mediado por el odioautoinformado, tenían lugar otros efectos más sutiles e indirectos, independientemente delodio o de sus componentes afectivos. Se analizan las implicaciones teóricas y prácticasde estos resultados para la toma sesgada de decisiones en los contextos legales(AU)

The present study examined the multidimensional nature of intergroup hate and the potentialroles of hate and prejudice in expressions of White Americans’ treatment of Blacks withinthe context of the U.S. legal system. White participants in the U.S. read about a provokedor unprovoked violent assault perpetrated by a Black assailant on a White victim. Emotionalreactions and recommendations for punishment (prescribed sentencing and support forthe death penalty) were assessed. Supportive of Sternberg’s (2003) duplex model of hate,we found that explicit (self-reported) hate reflected separate components of negation ofintimacy (e.g., disgust and repulsion), passion (anger and fear), and devaluation/commitment(e.g., attributions of evil and inhuman); these components, in turn, differentially mediatedpunitiveness toward the assailant. The results also revealed that although the direct effectof prejudice on retribution was mediated by self-reported hate, more subtle and indirecteffects occurred independently of hate or its affective components. Practical and theoreticalimplications of these findings for biased decision making in legal contexts are considered(AU)