Deepening Social Dominance and Interpersonal Power in Hierarchy Enhancing Organization

Social Dominance Theory assumes that dominants groups possessing positive high social value controls specific resources within social systems relying on his dominant position in hierarchical social structures, and that subordinate groups agree with dominants in preserving these hierarchies for maintaining social smooth functioning inside stable social system. The present research aims to study whether supervisors (vs. subordinates) with high social dominance orientation (SDO, tendency to preserve social hierarchies) endorse the use of harsh interpersonal power tactics (who contribute to maintain hierarchies’ stability) and oppose to soft interpersonal power tactics (who can potentially diminish social hierarchies) within an organization context. Furthermore, the study aims to recognize whether groups hierarchies are maintained, examining if there is an ideological consensus between supervisors and subordinate in using both interpersonal harsh and soft power tactics. Two-hundred and eighty-five employees drawn from a pharmaceutical company completed a questionnaire. Results of moderational analyses highlighted that role variable (dichotomous; supervisors vs subordinates) moderates relationship between SDO and preference in the use of harsh and soft interpersonal power tactics. As expected, the association between SDO and harsh tactics was higher for high-SDO supervisors (vs. high-SDO subordinates). Furthermore, high-SDO supervisors (vs. high-SDO subordinates) were lowers in endorse preferentially soft power tactics. However, only for subordinates, the association between SDO and soft tactics was significant; which means that subordinates were in a position that do not allow them to express “no preference” toward soft tactics which, in fact, are not allowed by supervisors in HE organization (which pursue mostly harsh tactics). Ideological consensus was also mostly observed between high-SDO supervisors and high-SDO subordinates in according toward harsh tactics and in opposing to soft tactics.