Relationship between social dominance, authoritarianism, threat and fear of crime in argentine college students

MURATORI, M.; DELFINO, G.; ZUBIETA, E. M.

San Antonio

Congreso; 41th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP); 2018

International Society of Political Psychology

Numerous studies have shown a positive relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and authoritarianism (RWA). While SDO refers more to the domination of some groups upon others (inter-group phenomena), and RWA emphasizes submission to authority figures inner groups (in-group phenomena), both are potent predictors of several attitudes, behaviors and political orientations. Also, theories have focused their interest on the relationship between threats, fear and social beliefs. Thus, they have suggested that threats and the perception that the world is a dangerous place have an important role as antecedents in the formation of authoritarian and dominant beliefs and behaviors, both individually and collectively. However, the inverse relationship is also observed. The present study evaluates the relationship between SDO, RWA, perception of insecurity and protective behaviors against crime. We worked with a sample of Argentine university students (N=516. Age=23.04, SD=4.08). 56% men and 44% women). Results show that SDO and RWA correlate positively with fear of crime and self-protection behaviors, being that the most dominant and authoritarian are the most fearful and that, feeling a greater perception of insecurity, increases the levels of both beliefs, and therefore, the frequency of both prudent and extreme behavior to protect themselves against crime. Also, perceiving threat and that the environment is dangerous, predicts dominance and authoritarianism. Regarding the type of crime, fear of terrorist attack is the greatest predictor of social dominance, followed by physical aggression. Finally, the most extreme protective behaviors are more associated with social dominance, while prudent behaviors with authoritarianism.