Measuring social dominance orientation amongst entering first-year students at a higher education institution in the Free State

Entering first-year students at a higher education institution were used to measure levels of social dominance orientation (SDO). The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in SDO for various demographic groups. Statistical significance was found for race and gender’s influence on SDO, but residence had no statistical significant influence on levels of SDO. In this study significant differences for the main effects of race and gender, as well as the interaction between race and gender in terms of SDO were found. According to the results found in this study, Whites are still the perceived higher social status group compared to the other racial groups.