The theory of malleable ideology of Knowles, Lowery, Chow and Hogan (2009) predicts that, under intergroup threat, anti‐egalitarian individuals will exploit the malleable character of color‐blindness and strategically claim to be strong supporters of it. In three studies conducted in France, we found no support for this theory when measuring color‐blindness but strong support when using measures of laïcité, an ideology of secularism. Indeed, those who score low on social dominance orientation (SDO) were more likely to support laïcité than anti‐egalitarian individuals. However, a situational threat (Study 1), a symbolic threat experimentally induced (Study 2), and a perceived symbolic threat (Study 3) were all related to increased support for laïcité by people high in SDO, without affecting those low in SDO. Thus, laïcité is a malleable ideology which can be adopted by individuals having contrasting motivations, as color‐blindness in the USA. Implications for the role of exact and conceptual replications in the development of a psychological science are discussed.