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The Early Expression of Blatant Dehumanization in Children and Its Association with Outgroup Negativity

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Abstract

Dehumanization is observed in adults across cultures and is thought to motivate human violence. The age of its first expression remains largely untested. This research demonstrates that diverse representations of humanness, including a novel one, readily elicit blatant dehumanization in adults (N = 482) and children (aged 5–12; N = 150). Dehumanizing responses in both age groups are associated with support for outgroup inferiority. Similar to the link previously observed in adults, dehumanization by children is associated with a willingness to punish outgroup transgressors. These findings suggest that exposure to cultural norms throughout adolescence and adulthood are not required for the development of outgroup dehumanization.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Zoo Atlanta for hosting our research, to the parents and children for participating and to Aleah Bowie, Erica Blair, Feruth Kidane, Julia Villegas, and Morgan Ferrans who helped collect the data. We thank Philip White and Zachary White who gave us advice on statistics. We also wish to thank Aleah Bowie, Michael Tomasello, Sarah Gaither and Ashley Jardina for invaluable comments they provided on an earlier version of the manuscript. Funding for this work was provided by Duke University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Wen Zhou & Brian Hare

  2. Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Brian Hare

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  1. Wen Zhou
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  2. Brian Hare
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Both authors contributed to the study design. W.Z. performed testing, data collection, data analysis and interpretation under the supervision of B.H. Both authors wrote the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

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Correspondence to Wen Zhou.

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Zhou, W., Hare, B. The Early Expression of Blatant Dehumanization in Children and Its Association with Outgroup Negativity. Hum Nat 33, 196–214 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-022-09427-x

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