Given our theoretical postulate that acceptance of legitimizing
myths has significant influence on the degree of inequality
in societies, it is quite important to understand the factors that
lead to the acceptance or rejection of ideologies that promote or
attenuate inequality. Social dominance theory postulates that a
significant factor is an individual-difference variable called social
dominance orientation (SDO), or the extent to which one
desires that one's in-group dominate and be superior to outgroups.
We consider SDO to be a general attitudinal orientation
toward intergroup relations, reflecting whether one generally
prefers such relations to be equal, versus hierarchical, that is,
ordered along a superior-inferior dimension. The theory postulates
that people who are more social-dominance oriented will
tend to favor hierarchy-enhancing ideologies and policies,
whereas those lower on SDO will tend to favor hierarchy-attenuating
ideologies and policies. SDO is thus the central individual-
difference variable that predicts a person's acceptance or rejection
of numerous ideologies and policies relevant to group
relations.