Social Dominance Orientation Scale Test

Readers interested in examining group-based attitudes may want a clear profile of their responses. The Social Dominance Orientation Scale Test is a structured social-dominance orientation assessment that organizes those responses into dimensions rather than offering a casual opinion prompt. This format helps distinguish the tendencies represented in the assessment without extending them to broader judgments about society.

What This Assessment Explores

The questions address equal standing, opportunities, incomes, and living conditions, alongside beliefs about dominance, force, status, and whether lower-status groups should accept subordination. Taken together, the items focus on intergroup attitudes toward social structure rather than behavior within a particular relationship. The profile is organized as follows:

• Social Dominance Orientation (1-7) measures overall support for hierarchy and inequality: Egalitarian orientation 1-2.2; Mixed/neutral orientation 2.3-4.4; Hierarchy-supporting orientation 4.5-7.
• Anti-Egalitarianism (1-7) measures opposition to equality: Egalitarian-leaning 1-1.9; Mixed/Moderate 2-4.4; Hierarchy-leaning 4.5-7.
• Dominance (1-7) measures approval of group superiority and power: Low dominance 1-2.2; Moderate dominance 2.3-4.8; High dominance 4.9-7.

Together, these dimensions show whether the respondent leans toward equality, mixed positions, or hierarchy-supporting attitudes, while also indicating which aspect is strongest.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each statement uses a seven-point agreement response, from strong disagreement to strong agreement; some items offer a neutral or unsure midpoint. The result displays a score for each of the three dimensions, with bands that indicate the direction and strength of hierarchy-related attitudes rather than their causes.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the SDO7 scale (Ho et al., 2015), which separates anti-egalitarian and dominance content. Pratto et al. (1994) introduced and operationalized the underlying individual-difference construct, while Ho et al. (2012) examined its structure and functions. These studies are relevant comparators, but they do not establish that this online version reproduces the published instruments or their validation evidence.

Interpret scores as a pattern across dimensions. Higher results indicate stronger endorsement of the relevant hierarchy-related attitude, while lower results indicate greater preference for equality. The social hierarchy attitudes measured here may shift with current context, group identification, self-awareness, and willingness to answer candidly. No population norms are stated for this online version, so the bands are descriptive guides rather than diagnostic thresholds.