Social dominance orientation (
SDO) is a personality trait which predicts social and political attitudes, and is a widely used
social psychological scale. SDO is conceptualised as a measure of individual differences in levels of group-based discrimination; that is, it is a measure of an individual's preference for
hierarchy within any
social system and the domination over lower-status groups. It is a predisposition toward anti-
egalitarianism within and between groups. The concept of SDO as a measurable individual difference is a product of
social dominance theory.