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Cited by 985Social and Intergroup PsychologyPsychology of Moral and Emotional JudgmentDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

Dehumanizing the Lowest of the Low: Neuroimaging Responses to Extreme Out-Groups

Harris, Lasana T., Fiske, Susan T.·2006·Psychological Science
DOI 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01793.x
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Abstract

Traditionally, prejudice has been conceptualized as simple animosity. The stereotype content model (SCM) shows that some prejudice is worse. The SCM previously demonstrated separate stereotype dimensions of warmth (low-high) and competence (low-high), identifying four distinct out-group clusters. The SCM predicts that only extreme out-groups, groups that are both stereotypically hostile and stereotypically incompetent (low warmth, low competence), such as addicts and the homeless, will be dehumanized. Prior studies show that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is necessary for social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging provided data for examining brain activations in 10 participants viewing 48 photographs of social groups and 12 participants viewing objects; each picture dependably represented one SCM quadrant. Analyses revealed mPFC activation to all social groups except extreme (low-low) out-groups, who especially activated insula and amygdala, a pattern consistent with disgust, the emotion predicted by the SCM. No objects, though rated with the same emotions, activated the mPFC. This neural evidence supports the prediction that extreme out-groups may be perceived as less than human, or dehumanized.

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  • One indication of dehumanized perception may be reduced activation in the social-cognition neural network, including medial prefrontal cortex and superior temporal sulcus.

    “One indication of dehumanized perception may be reduced activation in the social-cognition neural network (see Amodio & Frith, 2006; Overwalle, 2009, for reviews), including medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC; Harris & Fiske, 2006) and superior temporal sulcus (STS; Harris & Fiske, 2007).”

    From Dehumanized Perception: A Psychological Means to Facilitate Atrocities, Torture, and Genocide? (2011) · cites this paper as Harris & Fiske, 2006

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Authors
Harris, L. T., & Fiske, S. T.
Affiliations
Princeton University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Science
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2006-10
Volume
17
Issue
10
Pages
847-853
ISSN
  • 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-9280
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01793.x
OpenAlex
W2111251561
Cited by
985
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 54 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 65 · 2014: 56 · 2013: 74 · 2012: 53
FWCI
74.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
Keywords
dehumanization, stereotype content model, warmth and competence stereotypes, medial prefrontal cortex, disgust, insula, amygdala, social cognition, prejudice, homeless people
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Amygdala, Arousal, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Emotions, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Oxygen, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Prejudice, Social Desirability, Social Identification, Prefrontal Cortex, Dehumanization

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