Dehumanization of Uncivil Behaviors: Insights into Lack of Humanness and Racial Belonging

Xing Jie Chen-Xia (), Verónica Betancor, Nira Borges-Castells and Armando Rodríguez-Pérez
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Xing Jie Chen-Xia: Department of Cognitive, Social and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Verónica Betancor: Department of Cognitive, Social and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Nira Borges-Castells: Department of Cognitive, Social and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Armando Rodríguez-Pérez: Department of Cognitive, Social and Organizational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-23

Abstract: Humans are social creatures who need to respect certain norms and practice social responsibility for the well-being of everyone, but many people transgress these norms. Behaving uncivilly may lead to the transgressor being seen as someone unable to live in society and not as human as others. However, not all transgressors are perceived and evaluated equally. The purpose of this research was to verify the relationship between incivility and lack of humanness, and identify how racial belonging influences the perception of uncivil transgressors. In three studies ( N = 450), we wanted to confirm the association between (in)civility with blatant and covert dehumanization and explore how the racial belonging of uncivil agents may affect the way they are perceived. Results show that the agents who behave uncivilly are dehumanized blatantly and covertly (Study 1). Additionally, White uncivil agents are perceived and evaluated more harshly than Black uncivil agents by people of their same racial group (Study 2a). Additionally, Black uncivil agents were dehumanized less than White uncivil agents by people of their same racial group (Study 2b). Our findings confirm the relationship between incivility and lack of humanness and show a racial bias is present in the application of social norms.

Keywords: civility; dehumanization; race; infrahumanization; social norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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