Dehumanization in Social Psychology

Dehumanization refers to the attribution of sub-human qualities to individuals or groups, stripping them of the moral and social standing afforded to fellow humans. Within social psychology, dehumanization is understood as a multifaceted process encompassing overt, affective, and trait-based components. It has been linked to the escalation of intergroup conflict, the justification of violence, and the erosion of empathy and prosocial behaviour. The dual-model framework distinguishes between animalistic dehumanization, which equates targets with creatures devoid of civility and rationality, and mechanistic dehumanization, which portrays them as emotionless automata lacking warmth and agency. Recent theoretical advances emphasise the interplay between perceived threat, moral disengagement and emotional responses such as anger and disgust in fuelling dehumanising attitudes. Self-dehumanization and meta-dehumanization further illustrate how powerlessness and the belief of being dehumanized by others can undermine well-being and reciprocal intergroup relations. Empirical applications span contexts as diverse as armed conflict, public health crises, socioeconomic inequality and partisan politics, demonstrating the global significance of dehumanization and informing interventions that aim to restore shared humanity.

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Dehumanization in Social Psychology publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in dehumanization in social psychology across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Dehumanization: The process of perceiving or treating others as lacking human qualities, thereby justifying exclusion or harm.

Blatant dehumanization: Overt and explicit denial of others’ humanity, often framed in language comparing them to animals or objects.

Meta-dehumanization: The belief that one’s own group is viewed as less than human by an outgroup, which can trigger reciprocal hostility.

Dual model of dehumanization: A theoretical framework distinguishing animalistic dehumanization (denial of civility and rationality) from mechanistic dehumanization (denial of warmth and agency).

References

1. The enemy as animal: Symmetric dehumanization during asymmetric warfare. PLOS ONE (2017).
2. The Impact of Power on Humanity: Self-Dehumanization in Powerlessness. PLOS ONE (2015).
3. No convincing evidence outgroups are denied uniquely human characteristics: Distinguishing intergroup preference from trait-based dehumanization. Cognition (2021).
4. Reducing Explicit Blatant Dehumanization by Correcting Exaggerated Meta-Perceptions. Social Psychological and Personality Science (2022).
5. Not Just Disgust: Fear and Anger Also Relate to Intergroup Dehumanization. Collabra Psychology (2019).
6. Dehumanization During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology (2021).
7. Dehumanization of Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Groups Decreases Support for Welfare Policies via Perceived Wastefulness. International Review of Social Psychology (2020).