**3. Aims**

*Psycho-Social Aspects of Human Sexuality and Ethics*

always score higher than females in SDO.

socialization.

higher on SDO than women only when gender was salient.

Also, Huanga and Liu [42] analyzed the controversy in the literature concerning whether group differences in SDO can be explained by group identification. They hypothesized that if SDO acts as a stable individual difference, it should maintain its relative relationship with gender (i.e., men should have higher SDO than women) even when the demographic group is saliently primed. Alternatively, from a situational priming perspective, one might expect gender differences in SDO to be significant only when gender is salient. Their first research involved 1605 adults in Taiwan, and they found that contrary to SDT's invariance hypothesis, men were

Foels and Pappas [43] tested the invariance hypothesis by measuring the relationship between sex and SDO while controlling for the effects of gender socialization. They demonstrated that the sex difference in SDO is mediated by gender

Lee et al. [33] addressed the dispute between SDT and social identity theory (SIT) in a meta-analysis. Their research showed that in what has been predicted by SDO, gender differences on SDO were more substantial and more stable than differ-

Sidanius et al. [30] showed conflicting results. In their longitudinal study, they measured the SDO of men and women once a year for the 4- and half-year period. Their findings show that even after controlling for the characteristics of students' academic majors (hierarchy-enhancing or hierarchy-attenuating), males showed significantly higher SDO scores than females did, across the entire college career. Research, based in Sweden, on gender differences in SDO in social structures varying in equality enhancement and gender composition revealed a main effect of gender on SDO despite the degree of political equality or gender composition. There was an interaction effect only in associations where women were the majority of

Bathalka et al., [46] investigated the gender invariance hypothesis in similar cultural, ideological, and status contexts. Their findings revealed either no effect for gender or an interaction between gender and the relevant social context and only a small effect size of gender. Overall the authors underline that their results disconfirm the gender invariance assumption of SDT. In their second study, students were categorized according to disciplines HA or HE (literature, languages, psychology, social studies, and anthropology majors were grouped as HA and economics, law, and business as HE majors). Their research showed that whereas HE/HA predicted SDO, gender did not. Reviewing the literature, we find that most, but not all, studies have found significant differences in favor of males in SDO. However, some studies we discussed showed that males' SDO scores changed according to environmental and socialization variables such as being embedded in hierarchy-attenuating environments, not

ences between ethical and racial groups in the United States and worldwide. Other studies on the gender invariance hypothesis explored the influence of various kinds of presumed hierarchy-enhancing or hierarchy-attenuating settings. Several studies have shown that university majors and career choices are associated with either hierarchy-enhancing (HE, e.g., racism) or hierarchy-attenuating (HA, e.g., human rights) legitimizing myths [44]. Dambrun et al. [45] examined the impact of HE vs. HA academic major on stereotyping. They found that students in psychology were less social dominance-oriented than students in law. Moreover, while males were more social dominance-oriented than females in law, no sex difference was found for psychology majors. Authors conclude that their results "can be taken to suggest that social-cultural variables may affect scores on SDO and modify gender differences on SDO" (p. 130). They also notice that female law students had higher SDO scores than male psychology students; this finding is in opposition to the strong version of the invariance hypothesis that men should

**62**

members [26].

Most of the studies that found an invariant gender gap involved students or adolescents [40]. To investigate further the possible causes of the increasing political gender gap, we need to conduct studies with members with strong salient group identities, where the influence of adult socialization egalitarian myths may have the opportunity to influence SDO. On this line, studies on the ideological divide may be done involving militants and politicians. With dispositional features such as personality traits and value differences between conservatives and liberals, right-wing and left-wing voters may be present among ordinary citizens or college students [47] but are more pronounced in groups of party activists, extremists, and politicians. Already in the 1960s, McClosky et al. [48] showed the ideological conflicts were much higher between democratic and republican activists and party leaders than among party voters.

To further explore the gender identity hypothesis and the political gender gap, we need to compare people who not only identify with specific hierarchy-enhancing or hierarchy-attenuating ideologies but who participate actively and continuously to political parties or groups which uphold and promote those ideas. Activism in political parties is a matter of choice in modern society. As Huddy [49] underlines, people who choose to be activists in particular political groups already may hold some hierarchy-enhancing or hierarchy-attenuating ideals. However, their SDO may be heightened or lessened by their prolonged exposure and their internalization of legitimizing myths (i.e., according to "soft" gender invariance hypothesis).

SDO would suggest that being committed activists in a hierarchy-attenuating political groups could make individuals identify with the ideals of the groups. Therefore, male members in these groups could have lower SDO scores than males adhering and participating in hierarchy-enhancing political groups. So, we should find the highest scores of SDO in males belonging to right-wing political groups and the lowest in males active in extreme left-wing groups. However, according to SDT, even while absolute levels of SDO may vary across situations, men should still have relatively higher SDO than women within each political group. The predisposition of males to be temperamentally inclined to dominate, even when exposed to substantial and long-term environmental attenuating pressures, will produce nonetheless residual gender differences even among males and females belonging to groups who uphold egalitarian group values.

To understand if the gender gap in politics could be systematically observed within and across the left-wing and right-wing split, we aimed to compare the accuracy in predicting SDO by gender in four well-defined samples of male and female activists belonging to hierarchy-enhancing political groups – center right and extreme right wing oriented groups - vs. belonging to hierarchy attenuating political groups - center left and extreme left wing oriented groups.

As predicted by SDT, we should find higher mean SDO scores among male activists of extreme right-wing, hierarchy-promoting political groups and lower mean SDO scores in males members of extreme left wing, hierarchy-attenuating political groups. However, according to the invariant gender hypothesis of SDT, the difference between males and females within each group should be invariant across groups: the gender divide should be stronger than the political divide.

On the other hand, as more sustainable within a SIT perspective and gender similarities hypothesis [50], we should find no gender differences both in the

hierarchy-attenuating extreme left-wing political groups and hierarchy-enhancing extreme right-wing political groups. Both settings should reinforce both in male and female members the dominant legitimizing myths of the political group they have chosen, and the political divide should be stronger than the gender divide.
