Date of Award

6-20-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Jeffrey Huntsinger

Abstract

Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) proposes that groups of individuals in society are organized in social hierarchies that place dominant groups at the top of the hierarchy and subordinate, disadvantaged groups at the bottom. Research on prejudice, discrimination, and intergroup relations has largely focused on sexism and arbitrary-set hierarchies (e.g., race), leaving the idea of a health hierarchy largely neglected. Recently, Raoul (2023) presented the theoretical framework of a health-based social hierarchy, and the present study is an application of this framework. The aims of this study were to a) replicate previous findings by Raoul (2023) that found significant associations between Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and symbolic ableism and support for hierarchy-attenuating and hierarchy-enhancing policies, and b) explore the relationship between SDO and support for mitigation implementation, with the prediction that the health threat manipulation utilized in this study could weaken these associations. Participants were recruited online on CloudResearch Connect (n=391). Standardized SDO composite scores were significantly associated with all but one outcome measure. In sum, higher SDO was associated with higher symbolic ableism, higher support for hierarchy-enhancing policy, lower support for hierarchy-attenuating policies, lower overall mitigation support, and lower concern for the health of others. Threat condition assignment and the SDO by Threat interaction were not associated with any of the outcomes, indicating that the health threat manipulation was unsuccessful. Finally, symbolic ableism significantly mediated, at least partially, the relationship of SDO on mitigation support. The results of this study provide valuable insight from an ableism and health hierarchy perspective by further supporting the evidence that such a hierarchy exists in society.

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