Decades of research have shown that social dominance orientation (SDO) is one of the most important predictors of anti‐immigrant attitudes. However, the mechanisms through which SDO can explain prejudice have been studied insufficiently. Using rich and diverse samples from France and from the province of Québec in Canada, the present research provides a cross‐national (N = 1,852) and prospective (N = 534) analysis of a theoretical model in which the dimensions of SDO are indirectly predicting anti‐immigrant prejudice via the intergroup ideologies of assimilation, multiculturalism, colour blindness and interculturalism. Results showed that interculturalism, a hierarchy‐attenuating ideology was found to be a robust mechanism to explain the subtle effects of SDO‐E on anti‐immigrant prejudice whereas assimilation, a hierarchy‐enhancing ideology was playing a more important role to explain direct and blatant effects of SDO‐D on prejudice. The two most studied diversity approaches, multiculturalism and colour blindness, were largely redundant once interculturalism was considered. This pattern occurred in both France and Québec hence, favouring the context‐independent pathway.