The DOI matches its Crossref record; 13 of the 13 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
When We Need A Human: Motivational Determinants of Anthropomorphism
Abstract
We propose that the tendency to anthropomorphize nonhuman agents is determined primarily by three factors (Epley, Waytz, & Cacioppo, 2007), two of which we test here: sociality motivation and effectance motivation. This theory makes unique predictions about dispositional, situational, cultural, and developmental variability in anthropomorphism, and we test two predictions about dispositional and situational influences stemming from both of these motivations. In particular, we test whether those who are dispositionally lonely (sociality motivation) are more likely to anthropomorphize well–known pets (Study 1), and whether those who have a stable need for control (effectance motivation) are more likely to anthropomorphize apparently unpredictable animals (Study 2). Both studies are consistent with our predictions. We suggest that this theory of anthropomorphism can help to explain when people are likely to attribute humanlike traits to nonhuman agents, and provides insight into the inverse process of dehumanization in which people fail to attribute human characteristics to other humans.
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Mental abilities and the capacity for suffering tend to be attributed by people to animals when it is in their interest and motivation and not when it does not suit them.
“In other words, mental abilities and the capacity for suffering tend to be attributed by people to animals when it is in their interest and motivation and not when it does not suit them [65].”
From The Complexity of the Human–Animal Bond: Empathy, Attachment and Anthropomorphism in Human–Animal Relationships and Animal Hoarding (2022) · cites this paper as [65]
The tendency to anthropomorphize animals is neither invariant nor stable: children are more prone than adults, some people more than others, some situations promote more, and descriptions are more common in some cultures.
“the tendency to anthropomorphize animals is neither invariant nor stable: children are more prone to anthropomorphize than adults, some people anthropomorphize more than other people, some situations promote anthropomorphic beliefs more than others, and anthropomorphic descriptions of animals are more common in some cultures than others [65,143].”
From The Complexity of the Human–Animal Bond: Empathy, Attachment and Anthropomorphism in Human–Animal Relationships and Animal Hoarding (2022) · cites this paper as [65]
Attachment to animals is associated with empathy, attitudes, and prosocial behavior towards them, and with anthropomorphism.
“Attachment to animals is associated with empathy, attitudes and prosocial behavior towards them [13,39] and with anthropomorphism [65,212,214].”
From The Complexity of the Human–Animal Bond: Empathy, Attachment and Anthropomorphism in Human–Animal Relationships and Animal Hoarding (2022) · cites this paper as [65]
Citations
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“The theory we have sketched here, and describe in greater detail elsewhere (Epley et al., 2007), can also be used to make predictions about when people will dehumanize other people and when they will not.”
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“Leyens et al., 2003), or inner mental states and motivations ( Gray, Gray, & Wegner, 2007 ).”
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“And marketers utilize anthropomorphism to peddle products ranging from movies to motor parts (Aggarwal & McGill, 2007; Guthrie, 1993).”
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Epley, N., & Gilovich, T. (2006) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01704.x · Cited by 920 · cited 2×
“biased in the direction of the initially activated representation (for examples see Epley & Gilovich, 2006; Gilbert, 2002).”
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“Everyday discourse, scientific debates, and scholarly treatments of anthropomorphism have equated anthropomorphism with an overgeneralized error (e.g., Guthrie, 1993), and therefore hinge on whether anthropomorphism actually represents a mistaken representation of a nonhuman agent.”
BackgroundInfluential
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On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism
Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.114.4.864 · Cited by 4,069
Self-citationPerceived social isolation and cognition
Cacioppo, J. T., & Hawkley, L. C. (2009) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2009.06.005 · Cited by 2,144
Self-citationWho Sees Human?: The Stability and Importance of Individual Differences in Anthropomorphism
Waytz, A., Cacioppo, J., & Epley, N. (2010) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691610369336 · Cited by 1,228
Self-citationThe Neural Bases of Social Cognition and Story Comprehension
Mar, R. A. (2011) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-120709-145406 · Cited by 950
Causes and consequences of mind perception
Waytz, A., Gray, K., Epley, N., & Wegner, D. M. (2010) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.05.006 · Cited by 759
Self-citationMaking sense by making sentient: Effectance motivation increases anthropomorphism.
Waytz, A., Morewedge, C. K., Epley, N., Monteleone, G., Gao, J.-H., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0020240 · Cited by 587
Self-citationSocial categorization of social robots: Anthropomorphism as a function of robot group membership
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Texting with Humanlike Conversational Agents: Designing for Anthropomorphism
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“In contrast, Western traditions often maintain a sharper moral and ontological distinction between humans and machines, leading to greater skepticism toward attributing minds to artificial agents [12, 33].”
Metadata
- Authors
- Epley, N., Waytz, A., Akalis, S., & Cacioppo, J. T.
- Venue
- Social Cognition
- Publisher
- Guilford Publications
- Published
- 2008-04
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 143-155
- ISSN
- 0278-016X
- Cited by
- 626
- References
- 13
- Language
- en
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