We examine the relationship between personality, ideology, and emotions, arguing that SDO and RWA will predict reduced empathy and increased schadenfreude but towards different groups.
In five pre-registered studies, we demonstrate that EDO a) shapes attitudes in a similar fashion both within and between different relational domains, b) is uniquely predictive of socially consequential attitudes (i.e., modern sexism, speciesism, dehumanization) above established measures of personal ideology, c) is reliable over time, d) relates to a distinct set of personality correlates, and e) uniquely predicts pro-environmental behavior.
In four studies we test a model in which SDO leads to active harm primarily through feeling schadenfreude while SDO leads to passive harm primarily through not feeling empathy.
In three studies we show that higher levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) is related to the desire and choice to feel less empathy and schadenfreude toward low-status targets.