The Interface Between Ethnic and Social System Attachment: The Differential Effects of Hierarchy‐Enhancing and Hierarchy‐Attenuating Environments

Social dominance theory distinguishes between hierarchy‐enhancing environments, which promote inequality between groups (e.g., American society), and hierarchy‐attenuating environments, which promote equality between groups (e.g., universities). Consistent with predictions derived from this distinction, a panel study that assessed attitudes prior to university exposure and after one year of university exposure yielded three findings: (1) exposure to the university decreased antiegalitarian attitudes; (2) at the end of their first year of college, European Americans exhibited greater national attachment than Asian Americans, Latinos, and African Americans, but members of all groups exhibited similar levels of university attachment; and (3) European Americans exhibited a more positive association between ethnic attachment and national attachment than members of the other three groups, but members of all groups exhibited similar relationships between ethnic attachment and university attachment.