Fundamental Social Motives Mediate the Associations that Dangerous and Competitive Social Worldviews Have with Ideological Attitudes

The purpose of the present study was to examine the connections that dangerous and competitive social worldviews had with the ideological attitudes of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). More specifically, the focus was on the possibility that the associations that these social worldviews had with ideological attitudes may be mediated by the fundamental social motives in a sample of undergraduates (N =485; 79% female). The results revealed partial support for the hypotheses such that the association that the competitive social worldview had with RWA was mediated by the status seeking motive, the affiliation motive, and the kin care motive, whereas the association that the competitive social worldview had with SDO was mediated only by the status seeking motive. In contrast, the fundamental social motives did not mediate the association that the dangerous social worldview had with RWA. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the role that motivation may play in the connections between social worldviews and ideological attitudes.