Background: Social pain is considered a feature of humanity. The goal of this study was to confirm whether children, like adults, dehumanise out-group members attributing them less capacity to experience social pain than to in-group members.
Methods: A total of 119 participants aged between 9 and 13 years responded to a questionnaire which collected information about situations that caused physical pain and situations that caused social pain. The task of the participants was to indicate to what extent they considered that two persons (a member of the in-group and a member of an out-group) would experience pain in each situation.
Results: The results indicated that there was a higher estimate of social pain suffered by in-group members. There were no significant differences in the case of situations that generated physical in the groups.
Conclusions: The results were analysed from the dehumanisation perspective.