UC Irvine

While male supremacist ideology has existed for many centuries, online communities and digital platforms have contributed new concepts and aided in its reconfiguration. This mixed-methods dissertation uses online ethnographic research, a key informant interview, and an iterative process of factor analytic scale construction and validation across four studies (n = 3,116), in order to define, operationalize, and develop a measure of contemporary male supremacy - the Male Supremacy Scale (MSS). Online ethnographic research was conducted, data were collected and coded, and items were generated from this qualitative research. These codes and underlying concepts were then validated by way of a semi-structured interview, and the qualitative research was used to inform the factor analytic scale construction procedure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to create, refine, and test the MSS for reliability and validity, ultimately arriving at a 15-item scale, comprised of three 5-item subscales – Anti-Feminism, Female Dishonesty in Relationships, and ‘Women Like Alphas’. The MSS was tested alongside other construct-relevant instruments to evaluate contemporary male supremacy’s relationship to political orientation, racism, sexism, feelings towards grievance-based groups, and various personality assessments. Results suggest that contemporary male supremacy is strongly related to support for Donald Trump, hostile sexism, racial resentment, conspiratorial thinking, psychological entitlement, in-group dominance, and preference for authoritarian leaders. Using the MSS, this dissertation proffers a psychological profile of male supremacists, theorizes a potential pathway to online radicalization, and examines the contribution of digital media platforms in the creation and dissemination of male supremacy in contemporary culture.