Does nationalism compensate for perceived ethnic disadvantage? The moderating effect of SDO

Contemporary right-wing populist rhetoric paradoxically criticizes society as disadvantaging the ethnic majority relative to minorities, while simultaneously emphasizing the superiority of one’s own nation over others. Recent studies suggest that national superiority beliefs compensate for the perceived loss of ingroup advantage among ethnic-majority groups. A critical test of this idea would be whether ethnic-majority individuals with a higher need for group-based dominance show a stronger link between perceived ethnic deprivation and nationalism. Here, we assessed people’s need for dominance using the social dominance orientation (SDO) scale and tested our moderation hypothesis in two community samples in the UK and NZ (total N = 37,510). We found that white people perceiving their ethnic group as deprived predicts higher nationalism and does so more strongly for those higher on SDO. This suggests that part of the appeal of white nationalism may be about maintaining ethnic advantage, rather than economic grievances.