Social dominance and representations of the national prototype: The exclusionary emphasis hypothesis of national character

The ways in which national prototypes are defined constitute an important symbolic resource for maintaining hierarchy between groups within society. Two studies examined how New Zealanders downplayed or emphasized inclusionary versus exclusionary features of the national prototype. Study 1 tested a structural equation model indicating that people high in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) rated monocultural features that best fit an exclusionary (Anglo/European) ideal as characteristic of the national prototype (citizenship and ancestry, rugby/sporting culture). Simultaneously, people high in SDO also rated pluralistic features that were inclusive as less important for the national prototype (cultural awareness, liberal democratic values; n = 95). Study 2 replicated and extended these opposing effects to show that they held controlling for Right-Wing Authoritarianism and patriotism (n = 258). People high in the competitive-driven motivation for group-based hierarchy and inequality position representations of the national prototype in ways that privilege some groups over others in defining who constitutes a ‘true’ citizen. This likely helps legitimize various subtle discriminatory and exclusionary practices directed toward recent immigrant groups, to the extent that such groups are seen as not really ‘belonging’ to the nation.

► Proposes the exclusionary emphasis hypothesis of national character.
► Measured representations of national character in New Zealand.
► Showed that Social Dominance Orientation predicts national character representations.
► Describes how national character representations function as legitimizing myths.