Maria-Paola Paladino
Biographic Data
| ID | 105828 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maria-Paola Paladino |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maria-Paola |
| FAMILY NAME | Paladino |
| SIGNATURE | PALADINO M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Trento |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1664-9475 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 34 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 403 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 34 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Educating students to prevent gender-based violence: Predicting teachers’ intentions in Italy and Hungary
Schools can play an important role in educating for the prevention of gender-based violence against women, as recognized by the Istanbul Convention treaty. However, in many countries, teachers do not receive mandatory training and it is up to them to develop and implement curricular, or extracurricular, activities to raise students’ awareness about gender-based violence. In the present research, we used a mixed-methods approach to investigate pre…
Far-right movements in the Western world: How media exposure relates to normative beliefs and attitudes toward the far-right
Considering the rise of far-right groups in Western countries, we examined whether exposure to media coverage on the far-right is associated with attitudes toward it, using surveys in 15 Western democratic countries (total N = 2,576). We hypothesized that greater media exposure to the far-right will be associated with greater perceived prevalence and acceptability of it, which will in turn be associated with divergent attitudes. On the one hand, …
On the indirect link between virus anthropomorphism and health behavior: Evidence from the pandemic
Experts and laypeople often describe pathogens and diseases by attributing to these nonhuman entities human-related qualities, mind states, intentions, and emotions (i.e., anthropomorphism). By taking advantage of the last pandemic, the present research was intended to investigate the implications of thinking about a virus in human-like terms for individuals' health-related behaviors. A severity pathway hypothesis (i.e., virus anthropomorphism is…
I’ll be the first one on the street to protest against the lockdown”: Economic grievances and antilockdown protests during the Covid-19 pandemic in high-income countries
In the current research, we examined the association between perceived economic grievances and both intentions to engage and actual engagement in antilockdown protests during the COVID-19 pandemic in high-income countries. We also investigated whether this direct association would be (a) mediated by social identification with the economically disadvantaged and (b) moderated by fatalistic beliefs about the pandemic. In Study 1, multilevel modellin…
Constructivist Self-Construal: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Building on independent versus interdependent self-construal theory, three studies provide initial empirical evidence for a third way of construing the self: the constructivist self-construal. People with a constructivist view perceive the self as constantly changing (impermanence), as a collection of distinct phenomena from moment to moment (discontinuity), as lacking an essence (disentification), and as psychologically overlapping with other pe…
Seven Clarifications on the Psychology of Dehumanization
Over (2021; this issue) proposes seven challenges to the body of psychological research and theory on dehumanization that has flourished over the past two decades. As scholars who have contributed to this work, we believe her critique attacks an unrecognizable straw man that misinterprets its theoretical claims and ignores much of the empirical literature. Here we present seven arguments that clarify the role of dehumanization in social perceptio…
Materialist and post-materialist concerns and the wish for a strong leader in 27 countries
There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whe…
Getting closer: Synchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation increases closeness and attraction toward an opposite-sex other in female participants
Auditory Gaydar: Perception of Sexual Orientation Based on Female Voice
We investigated auditory gaydar (i.e., the ability to recognize sexual orientation) in female speakers, addressing three related issues: whether auditory gaydar is (1) accurate, (2) language-dependent (i.e., occurs only in some languages, but not in others), and (3) ingroup-specific (i.e., occurs only when listeners judge speakers of their own language, but not when they judge foreign language speakers). In three experiments, we asked Italian, Po…
One of Us: On the Role of Accent and Race in Real-Time In-Group Categorization
In the present research, we investigated the combined role of accent (native vs. nonnative) and race (European native or White vs. nonnative or Black) in real-time in-group categorization among Italian participants. We found that targets presenting mixed cues (i.e., Black persons with a native accent and White persons with a nonnative accent) led to the simultaneous and parallel activation of in-group and out-group representation in the early sta…
“Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now”: Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader
Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correl…
Regaining In-Group Continuity in Times of Anxiety About the Group's Future: A Study on the Role of Collective Nostalgia Across 27 Countries
Collective nostalgia for the good old days of the country thrives across the world. However, little is known about the social psychological dynamics of this collective emotion across cultures. We predicted that collective nostalgia is triggered by collective angst as it helps people to restore a sense of in-group continuity via stronger in-group belonging and out-group rejection (in the form of opposition to immigrants). Based on a sample (N = 5,…
Cultural Values Moderate the Impact of Relative Deprivation
Relative deprivation (RD) is the judgment that one or one's ingroup is worse off compared with some relevant standard coupled with feelings of dissatisfaction, anger, and resentment. RD predicts a wide range of outcomes, but it is unclear whether this relationship is moderated by national cultural differences. Therefore, in the first study, we used national assessments of individual-collectivism and power distance to code 303 effect sizes from 31…
Gay- and Lesbian-Sounding Auditory Cues Elicit Stereotyping and Discrimination
The growing body of literature on the recognition of sexual orientation from voice ("auditory gaydar") is silent on the cognitive and social consequences of having a gay-/lesbian- versus heterosexual-sounding voice. We investigated this issue in four studies (overall N = 276), conducted in Italian language, in which heterosexual listeners were exposed to single-sentence voice samples of gay/lesbian and heterosexual speakers. In all four studies, …
Consequences of Politicians’ Disrespectful Communication Depend on Social Judgment Dimensions and Voters’ Moral Identity
The present study investigates the consequences of respectful versus disrespectful communication in political debates on voters’ social judgments and voting decisions. Reconciling previously mixed results, we argue that the consequences of disrespect vary with the judgment dimension (communion vs. agency) and voters’ moral identity. An initial study (N = 197) finds that a political candidate's disrespect towards his or her opponent affects voting…
Blurring Human–Machine Distinctions: Anthropomorphic Appearance in Social Robots as a Threat to Human Distinctiveness
Not “just words”: Exposure to homophobic epithets leads to dehumanizing and physical distancing from gay men
We examined whether homophobic epithets (e.g., faggot ) function as labels of deviance for homosexuals that contribute to their dehumanization and physical distance. Across two studies, participants were supraliminally (Study 1) and subliminally (Study 2) exposed to a homophobic epithet, a category label, or a generic insult. Participants were then asked to associate human‐related and animal‐related words to homosexuals and heterosexuals. Results…
Social acceptability of sexist derogatory and sexist objectifying slurs across contexts
We are human, they are not: Driving forces behind outgroup dehumanisation and the humanisation of the ingroup
Mostly invigorated by infrahumanisation theory, our knowledge on processes of dehumanisation in intergroup relations has grown considerably in the last decade. Building on these earlier endeavours, the present chapter reviews some recent empirical extensions that highlight the importance of differentiating between ingroup humanisation and outgroup dehumanisation because they are often moderated by specific variables. The role of these separate pr…
Are sexualized women complete human beings? Why men and women dehumanize sexually objectified women
Focusing on the dehumanization of sexually objectified targets, study 1 tested the extent to which objectified and non‐objectified male and female publicity photos were associated with human compared to animal concepts. Results confirmed the hypothesis that, among all targets, only objectified women were associated with less human concepts. This pattern of results emerged for both male and female participants but likely for different reasons. Stu…
The uniquely human content of stereotypes
The uniquely human content of stereotypes was measured in nine different inter-group comparisons that varied in terms of competence and warmth. Results indicated that the infrahumanization bias understood as people s tendency to see in-group relative to out-group stereotypes as more human occurred in almost all inter-group situations. Secondly, mainly out-groups that lack both warmth and competence were clearly infrahumanized as a result of a den…
Second Language Competence in the Italian-Speaking Population of Alto Adige/Südtirol: Evidence for Linguistic Stereotype Threat
Stereotype threat theory suggests that a negative stereotype about a social group can undermine the performance of group members in a stereotype-relevant domain. The present research examines this in the domain of second language (L2) competence. Two studies were conducted to test the effects of stereotype threat on L2 performance in a group of Italian-speaking people living in Alto Adige/Südtirol (AA/ST), a bilingual region of Italy. Participant…
Infra‐humanization: The Wall of Group Differences
Infra‐humanizing outgroups involves considering outgroups less human and more animal‐like than the ingroup, which is perceived, in essence, as fully human. In this article, the first section presents the theoretical background of infra‐humanization and distinguishes it from related concepts, such as dehumanization. The three basic hypotheses of the theory are then presented with a summary of empirical evidence. Social implications follow. Reasons…
Priming uniquely human emotions and the in-group (but not the out-group) activates humanity concepts
Documenting the behavioural consequences of infra-humanization, Vaes, Paladino, Castelli, Leyens, and Giovanazzi (2003) found that, in comparison to in-group members, out-group members are discriminated against when they express uniquely human emotions. It was assumed that expressing a uniquely human emotion makes an in-group member, at least tacitly, more human than an out-group member. Two studies tested this assumption and found, as predicted,…
Dimensions of “uniquely” and “non‐uniquely” human emotions
Emotion scientists often distinguish those emotions that are encountered universally, even among animals ( “primary emotions”), from those experienced by human beings ( “secondary emotions”). No attempt, however, has ever been made to capture the lay conception about this distinction and to find the criteria on which the distinction is based. The first study presented in this paper was conducted in three countries involving four languages, so as …
Psychological essentialism and the differential attribution of uniquely human emotions to ingroups and outgroups
According to the psychological essentialism perspective, people tend to explain differences between groups by attributing them different essences. Given a pervasive ethnocentrism, this tendency implies that the human essence will be restricted to the ingroup whereas outgroups will receive a lesser degree of humanity. Therefore, it is argued that people attribute more uniquely human characteristics to the ingroup than to the outgroup. The present …
Infra‐humanization: The Wall of Group Differences
Infra‐humanizing outgroups involves considering outgroups less human and more animal‐like than the ingroup, which is perceived, in essence, as fully human. In this article, the first section presents the theoretical background of infra‐humanization and distinguishes it from related concepts, such as dehumanization. The three basic hypotheses of the theory are then presented with a summary of empirical evidence. Social implications follow. Reasons…
Differential Association of Uniquely and Non Uniquely Human Emotions with the Ingroup and the Outgroup
According to Leyens et al.’s (2000) theory, intergroup discrimination involves a differential appraisal of the ingroup’s and the outgroup’s uniquely human characteristics. Four experiments investigated how emotions that are considered uniquely (i.e. secondary emotions) and non uniquely (i.e. primary emotions) human (Demoulin et al., 2001a) are differentially associated with the ingroup and the outgroup. Using the Implicit Association Task (IAT) w…
Emotional prejudice, essentialism, and nationalism The 2002 Tajfel lecture
In explaining differences between groups, people ascribe the human essence to their ingroup and consider outgroups as less human. This phenomenon, called infra‐humanization, occurs outside people's awareness. Because secondary emotions (e.g. love, hope, contempt, resentment) are considered uniquely human emotions, people not only attribute more secondary emotions to their ingroup than to outgroups, but are reluctant to associate these emotions wi…
On the Behavioral Consequences of Infrahumanization: The Implicit Role of Uniquely Human Emotions in Intergroup Relations
Four experiments confirmed the hypothesis that people discriminate the out-group on the basis of the expression of uniquely human emotions. In Study 1, using a lost e-mail paradigm, the expression of a uniquely human emotion resulted in "nicer" replies when the sender was an in-group compared with an out-group member. The same pattern of results was obtained in Studies 2 and 3 using a conformity paradigm. In addition, perceived similarity was mea…
Are sexualized women complete human beings? Why men and women dehumanize sexually objectified women
Focusing on the dehumanization of sexually objectified targets, study 1 tested the extent to which objectified and non‐objectified male and female publicity photos were associated with human compared to animal concepts. Results confirmed the hypothesis that, among all targets, only objectified women were associated with less human concepts. This pattern of results emerged for both male and female participants but likely for different reasons. Stu…
Regaining In-Group Continuity in Times of Anxiety About the Group's Future: A Study on the Role of Collective Nostalgia Across 27 Countries
Collective nostalgia for the good old days of the country thrives across the world. However, little is known about the social psychological dynamics of this collective emotion across cultures. We predicted that collective nostalgia is triggered by collective angst as it helps people to restore a sense of in-group continuity via stronger in-group belonging and out-group rejection (in the form of opposition to immigrants). Based on a sample (N = 5,…
The uniquely human content of stereotypes
The uniquely human content of stereotypes was measured in nine different inter-group comparisons that varied in terms of competence and warmth. Results indicated that the infrahumanization bias understood as people s tendency to see in-group relative to out-group stereotypes as more human occurred in almost all inter-group situations. Secondly, mainly out-groups that lack both warmth and competence were clearly infrahumanized as a result of a den…
Not “just words”: Exposure to homophobic epithets leads to dehumanizing and physical distancing from gay men
We examined whether homophobic epithets (e.g., faggot ) function as labels of deviance for homosexuals that contribute to their dehumanization and physical distance. Across two studies, participants were supraliminally (Study 1) and subliminally (Study 2) exposed to a homophobic epithet, a category label, or a generic insult. Participants were then asked to associate human‐related and animal‐related words to homosexuals and heterosexuals. Results…
Gay- and Lesbian-Sounding Auditory Cues Elicit Stereotyping and Discrimination
The growing body of literature on the recognition of sexual orientation from voice ("auditory gaydar") is silent on the cognitive and social consequences of having a gay-/lesbian- versus heterosexual-sounding voice. We investigated this issue in four studies (overall N = 276), conducted in Italian language, in which heterosexual listeners were exposed to single-sentence voice samples of gay/lesbian and heterosexual speakers. In all four studies, …
Protecting the Ingroup: Motivated Allocation of Cognitive Resources in the Presence of Threatening Ingroup Members
Research on the Black Sheep effect (Marques, Yzerbyt, & Leyens, 1988) suggests that motivational factors such as the level of identification with the ingroup influences the way people react against negative ingroup members. The present study tested the idea that people may invest a sizable amount of cognitive resources to protect their view of the ingroup when it is challenged by a negative target. We measured the identification of our participan…
One of Us: On the Role of Accent and Race in Real-Time In-Group Categorization
In the present research, we investigated the combined role of accent (native vs. nonnative) and race (European native or White vs. nonnative or Black) in real-time in-group categorization among Italian participants. We found that targets presenting mixed cues (i.e., Black persons with a native accent and White persons with a nonnative accent) led to the simultaneous and parallel activation of in-group and out-group representation in the early sta…
Consequences of Politicians’ Disrespectful Communication Depend on Social Judgment Dimensions and Voters’ Moral Identity
The present study investigates the consequences of respectful versus disrespectful communication in political debates on voters’ social judgments and voting decisions. Reconciling previously mixed results, we argue that the consequences of disrespect vary with the judgment dimension (communion vs. agency) and voters’ moral identity. An initial study (N = 197) finds that a political candidate's disrespect towards his or her opponent affects voting…
Auditory Gaydar: Perception of Sexual Orientation Based on Female Voice
We investigated auditory gaydar (i.e., the ability to recognize sexual orientation) in female speakers, addressing three related issues: whether auditory gaydar is (1) accurate, (2) language-dependent (i.e., occurs only in some languages, but not in others), and (3) ingroup-specific (i.e., occurs only when listeners judge speakers of their own language, but not when they judge foreign language speakers). In three experiments, we asked Italian, Po…
Cultural Values Moderate the Impact of Relative Deprivation
Relative deprivation (RD) is the judgment that one or one's ingroup is worse off compared with some relevant standard coupled with feelings of dissatisfaction, anger, and resentment. RD predicts a wide range of outcomes, but it is unclear whether this relationship is moderated by national cultural differences. Therefore, in the first study, we used national assessments of individual-collectivism and power distance to code 303 effect sizes from 31…
Social acceptability of sexist derogatory and sexist objectifying slurs across contexts
Second Language Competence in the Italian-Speaking Population of Alto Adige/Südtirol: Evidence for Linguistic Stereotype Threat
Stereotype threat theory suggests that a negative stereotype about a social group can undermine the performance of group members in a stereotype-relevant domain. The present research examines this in the domain of second language (L2) competence. Two studies were conducted to test the effects of stereotype threat on L2 performance in a group of Italian-speaking people living in Alto Adige/Südtirol (AA/ST), a bilingual region of Italy. Participant…
Far-right movements in the Western world: How media exposure relates to normative beliefs and attitudes toward the far-right
Considering the rise of far-right groups in Western countries, we examined whether exposure to media coverage on the far-right is associated with attitudes toward it, using surveys in 15 Western democratic countries (total N = 2,576). We hypothesized that greater media exposure to the far-right will be associated with greater perceived prevalence and acceptability of it, which will in turn be associated with divergent attitudes. On the one hand, …
I’ll be the first one on the street to protest against the lockdown”: Economic grievances and antilockdown protests during the Covid-19 pandemic in high-income countries
In the current research, we examined the association between perceived economic grievances and both intentions to engage and actual engagement in antilockdown protests during the COVID-19 pandemic in high-income countries. We also investigated whether this direct association would be (a) mediated by social identification with the economically disadvantaged and (b) moderated by fatalistic beliefs about the pandemic. In Study 1, multilevel modellin…
Priming uniquely human emotions and the in-group (but not the out-group) activates humanity concepts
Documenting the behavioural consequences of infra-humanization, Vaes, Paladino, Castelli, Leyens, and Giovanazzi (2003) found that, in comparison to in-group members, out-group members are discriminated against when they express uniquely human emotions. It was assumed that expressing a uniquely human emotion makes an in-group member, at least tacitly, more human than an out-group member. Two studies tested this assumption and found, as predicted,…
Materialist and post-materialist concerns and the wish for a strong leader in 27 countries
There is evidence that democracies are under threat around the world while the quest for strong leaders is increasing. Although the causes of these developments are complex and multifaceted, here we focus on one factor: the extent to which citizens express materialist and post-materialist concerns. We explore whether objective higher levels of democracy are differentially associated with materialist and post-materialist concerns and, in turn, whe…
The Emotional Side of Prejudice: The Attribution of Secondary Emotions to Ingroups and Outgroups
If people favor their ingroup, are especially concerned with their own group, and attribute different essences to different groups, it follows that their essence must be superior to the essence of other groups. Intelligence, language, and certain emotions are all considered to be distinctive elements of human nature or essence. The role of inteligence and language in discrimination, prejudice, and racism has already been largely investigated, and…
The Primacy of the Ingroup: The Interplay of Entitativity and Identification
In the present chapter, we move away from the traditional focus on the outgroup encountered in the literature on intergroup relations and argue that the ingroup is psychologically primary. We build upon the notion of entitativity first proposed by Campbell (1958) and suggest that entitative ingroups meet basic needs related to group membership better than less coherent ingroups. We provide initial support for the privileged status of entitative i…
Protecting the Ingroup: Motivated Allocation of Cognitive Resources in the Presence of Threatening Ingroup Members
Research on the Black Sheep effect (Marques, Yzerbyt, & Leyens, 1988) suggests that motivational factors such as the level of identification with the ingroup influences the way people react against negative ingroup members. The present study tested the idea that people may invest a sizable amount of cognitive resources to protect their view of the ingroup when it is challenged by a negative target. We measured the identification of our participan…
Psychological essentialism and the differential attribution of uniquely human emotions to ingroups and outgroups
According to the psychological essentialism perspective, people tend to explain differences between groups by attributing them different essences. Given a pervasive ethnocentrism, this tendency implies that the human essence will be restricted to the ingroup whereas outgroups will receive a lesser degree of humanity. Therefore, it is argued that people attribute more uniquely human characteristics to the ingroup than to the outgroup. The present …
I Belong, therefore, I Exist: Ingroup Identification, Ingroup Entitativity, and Ingroup Bias
Merging insights from the intergroup relations literature and terror management theory, the authors conducted an experiment in which they assessed the impact of death-related thoughts on a series of ingroup measures. Participants in the mortality-salience condition displayed stronger ingroup identification, perceived greater ingroup entitativity, and scored higher on ingroup bias measures. Also, perceived ingroup entitativity as well as ingroup i…
Differential Association of Uniquely and Non Uniquely Human Emotions with the Ingroup and the Outgroup
According to Leyens et al.’s (2000) theory, intergroup discrimination involves a differential appraisal of the ingroup’s and the outgroup’s uniquely human characteristics. Four experiments investigated how emotions that are considered uniquely (i.e. secondary emotions) and non uniquely (i.e. primary emotions) human (Demoulin et al., 2001a) are differentially associated with the ingroup and the outgroup. Using the Implicit Association Task (IAT) w…
Emotional prejudice, essentialism, and nationalism The 2002 Tajfel lecture
In explaining differences between groups, people ascribe the human essence to their ingroup and consider outgroups as less human. This phenomenon, called infra‐humanization, occurs outside people's awareness. Because secondary emotions (e.g. love, hope, contempt, resentment) are considered uniquely human emotions, people not only attribute more secondary emotions to their ingroup than to outgroups, but are reluctant to associate these emotions wi…
On the Behavioral Consequences of Infrahumanization: The Implicit Role of Uniquely Human Emotions in Intergroup Relations
Four experiments confirmed the hypothesis that people discriminate the out-group on the basis of the expression of uniquely human emotions. In Study 1, using a lost e-mail paradigm, the expression of a uniquely human emotion resulted in "nicer" replies when the sender was an in-group compared with an out-group member. The same pattern of results was obtained in Studies 2 and 3 using a conformity paradigm. In addition, perceived similarity was mea…
Dimensions of “uniquely” and “non‐uniquely” human emotions
Emotion scientists often distinguish those emotions that are encountered universally, even among animals ( “primary emotions”), from those experienced by human beings ( “secondary emotions”). No attempt, however, has ever been made to capture the lay conception about this distinction and to find the criteria on which the distinction is based. The first study presented in this paper was conducted in three countries involving four languages, so as …
Emotional prejudice can lead to infra-humanisation
Groups are social constructions with differences. People spontaneously attempt to explain differences between groups. Stereotypes often play this explanatory role. Specifically, group members tend to attribute different essences to social categories. Given widespread ethnocentrism, it is not surprising that individuals reserve “the human essence” for their ingroup, while other groups are attributed a lesser humanity. This phenomenon is called inf…
Priming uniquely human emotions and the in-group (but not the out-group) activates humanity concepts
Documenting the behavioural consequences of infra-humanization, Vaes, Paladino, Castelli, Leyens, and Giovanazzi (2003) found that, in comparison to in-group members, out-group members are discriminated against when they express uniquely human emotions. It was assumed that expressing a uniquely human emotion makes an in-group member, at least tacitly, more human than an out-group member. Two studies tested this assumption and found, as predicted,…
Infra‐humanization: The Wall of Group Differences
Infra‐humanizing outgroups involves considering outgroups less human and more animal‐like than the ingroup, which is perceived, in essence, as fully human. In this article, the first section presents the theoretical background of infra‐humanization and distinguishes it from related concepts, such as dehumanization. The three basic hypotheses of the theory are then presented with a summary of empirical evidence. Social implications follow. Reasons…
The uniquely human content of stereotypes
The uniquely human content of stereotypes was measured in nine different inter-group comparisons that varied in terms of competence and warmth. Results indicated that the infrahumanization bias understood as people s tendency to see in-group relative to out-group stereotypes as more human occurred in almost all inter-group situations. Secondly, mainly out-groups that lack both warmth and competence were clearly infrahumanized as a result of a den…
Second Language Competence in the Italian-Speaking Population of Alto Adige/Südtirol: Evidence for Linguistic Stereotype Threat
Stereotype threat theory suggests that a negative stereotype about a social group can undermine the performance of group members in a stereotype-relevant domain. The present research examines this in the domain of second language (L2) competence. Two studies were conducted to test the effects of stereotype threat on L2 performance in a group of Italian-speaking people living in Alto Adige/Südtirol (AA/ST), a bilingual region of Italy. Participant…
Are sexualized women complete human beings? Why men and women dehumanize sexually objectified women
Focusing on the dehumanization of sexually objectified targets, study 1 tested the extent to which objectified and non‐objectified male and female publicity photos were associated with human compared to animal concepts. Results confirmed the hypothesis that, among all targets, only objectified women were associated with less human concepts. This pattern of results emerged for both male and female participants but likely for different reasons. Stu…
We are human, they are not: Driving forces behind outgroup dehumanisation and the humanisation of the ingroup
Mostly invigorated by infrahumanisation theory, our knowledge on processes of dehumanisation in intergroup relations has grown considerably in the last decade. Building on these earlier endeavours, the present chapter reviews some recent empirical extensions that highlight the importance of differentiating between ingroup humanisation and outgroup dehumanisation because they are often moderated by specific variables. The role of these separate pr…
Social acceptability of sexist derogatory and sexist objectifying slurs across contexts
Blurring Human–Machine Distinctions: Anthropomorphic Appearance in Social Robots as a Threat to Human Distinctiveness
Not “just words”: Exposure to homophobic epithets leads to dehumanizing and physical distancing from gay men
We examined whether homophobic epithets (e.g., faggot ) function as labels of deviance for homosexuals that contribute to their dehumanization and physical distance. Across two studies, participants were supraliminally (Study 1) and subliminally (Study 2) exposed to a homophobic epithet, a category label, or a generic insult. Participants were then asked to associate human‐related and animal‐related words to homosexuals and heterosexuals. Results…
Gay- and Lesbian-Sounding Auditory Cues Elicit Stereotyping and Discrimination
The growing body of literature on the recognition of sexual orientation from voice ("auditory gaydar") is silent on the cognitive and social consequences of having a gay-/lesbian- versus heterosexual-sounding voice. We investigated this issue in four studies (overall N = 276), conducted in Italian language, in which heterosexual listeners were exposed to single-sentence voice samples of gay/lesbian and heterosexual speakers. In all four studies, …
Consequences of Politicians’ Disrespectful Communication Depend on Social Judgment Dimensions and Voters’ Moral Identity
The present study investigates the consequences of respectful versus disrespectful communication in political debates on voters’ social judgments and voting decisions. Reconciling previously mixed results, we argue that the consequences of disrespect vary with the judgment dimension (communion vs. agency) and voters’ moral identity. An initial study (N = 197) finds that a political candidate's disrespect towards his or her opponent affects voting…
Regaining In-Group Continuity in Times of Anxiety About the Group's Future: A Study on the Role of Collective Nostalgia Across 27 Countries
Collective nostalgia for the good old days of the country thrives across the world. However, little is known about the social psychological dynamics of this collective emotion across cultures. We predicted that collective nostalgia is triggered by collective angst as it helps people to restore a sense of in-group continuity via stronger in-group belonging and out-group rejection (in the form of opposition to immigrants). Based on a sample (N = 5,…
Cultural Values Moderate the Impact of Relative Deprivation
Relative deprivation (RD) is the judgment that one or one's ingroup is worse off compared with some relevant standard coupled with feelings of dissatisfaction, anger, and resentment. RD predicts a wide range of outcomes, but it is unclear whether this relationship is moderated by national cultural differences. Therefore, in the first study, we used national assessments of individual-collectivism and power distance to code 303 effect sizes from 31…
“Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now”: Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader
Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, N = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, N = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, N = 96; Study 3b, N = 296). We found correl…
Getting closer: Synchronous interpersonal multisensory stimulation increases closeness and attraction toward an opposite-sex other in female participants
Psychology (33 works) · Social Psychology (32 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (23 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (18 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (12 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Ingroups and outgroups (11 works) · Developmental psychology (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works)