Social Dominance Orientation and Ingroup Bias Perceptions in Hiring Decisions

Abstract: The current research explores how an individual's social dominance orientation (SDO) impacts their decision to select a manager candidate as a function of the candidate’s race and the likelihood that the candidate would favor their ingroup. Across two experimental studies, we find that SDO is a stronger predictor of vetoing a Black candidate for a managerial position than of proposing an equally qualified White candidate, because participants believe the Black candidate would favor ingroup members.

Keywords: Social Dominance Orientation, Ingroup Bias, Hiring