Dehumanization and the lack of social connection

Abstract

Dehumanization is traditionally considered in the context of intergroup conflict. An emerging body of research examines how it also occurs in interpersonal relationships and is associated with social exclusion and disconnection rather than conflict. This article examines how humanness implicates social relatedness, how social distance fosters perceptions of others as less human than the self, and how dehumanizing perceptions undermine close relationships. It then explores how experiences of social exclusion lead people to see themselves and their rejecters as less human, how the belief that one is dehumanized by others promotes rejection of others, and how positive social contact may reduce dehumanization. Finally, it discusses how feeling lonely or socially connected sometimes leads people to anthropomorphize nonhumans and other times leads them to dehumanize people.

Keywords: Dehumanization; Loneliness; Meta-dehumanization; Social exclusion.