Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation as triggers of changing social distances towards immigrants
Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation as triggers of changing social distances towards immigrants

Summary/Abstract: In this study we have examined the main and interactive effects of right-wing authoritarian attitudes (RWA), social dominance orientations (SDO) and self-perceived economic status on social distances towards immigrants - Russians and Arabs. Both RWA and SDO were conceptualized as motivational schemes (triggers) in the perspective of the Dual Process Model and analyzed within the framework of Social Dominance Theory and Relative Deprivation Hypothesis. The study was a part of a larger survey, carried out in 2014, among a quota sample of N=1216 respondents - representatives of Bulgarian, Turkish and Roma ethnic communities in 3 Bulgarian districts (Montana, Kardzhali and Stara Zagora). The findings confirmed that the perceived threat by Russian immigrants to the dominant position of the Bulgarian majority was positively related to the social distances of the poorest ethnic Bulgarians to Russians. Moreover, only ethnic Bulgarians who perceived themselves as the poorest were found to be unwilling to contact Arab immigrants. No such conditional SDO effects were found for the two ethnic minorities. The higher motivation for group order and security (RWA) was related to shorter social distances towards Russians only among Bulgarian Turks who regarded their economic status as the highest. Some unexpected findings about the triggers of changing social distances of Bulgarian Turks and Roma towards immigrants were also scrutinized.

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