Between dominance and inequality: The psychological roots of attitudes towards hierarchy in world politics

Across two large-N studies (Ntotal = 1181), this article shows whether and how personal tendencies towards endorsing hierarchical social orders manifest in the context of world politics. Investigating the psychological factors underlying biases and predispositions towards stratification uncovers a missing link, offering a nuanced perspective on how dominance and anti-egalitarianism shape and reinforce global hierarchical structures. The findings suggest that individuals who favour dominance are more likely to endorse aggressive attitudes and behaviours, such as the use of military force abroad, as a means of securing their hierarchical positions. Furthermore, the anti-egalitarian dimension of stratification preferences drives opposition to international cooperation, functioning as a mechanism to prioritise the in-group and resist efforts to address inequalities and asymmetries. All in all, the study advances beyond traditional International Relations (IR) theories that primarily focus on authority and material power, as well as those that interpret global hierarchies as products of conservative foreign policy choices.