Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability
In propaganda and hate speech, target groups are often compared to dangerous and disgusting animals. Exposure to these animalistic slurs is thought to increase endorsement of intergroup harm but the mechanism by which this happens remains unclear. Across two pre-registered and highly powered studies...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230203 |
| _version_ | 1797782625388068864 |
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| author | Florence E. Enock Harriet Over |
| author_facet | Florence E. Enock Harriet Over |
| author_sort | Florence E. Enock |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In propaganda and hate speech, target groups are often compared to dangerous and disgusting animals. Exposure to these animalistic slurs is thought to increase endorsement of intergroup harm but the mechanism by which this happens remains unclear. Across two pre-registered and highly powered studies, we examined how animalistic language influences the cultural transmission of beliefs about target groups. In line with previous work, we found that describing a novel political group with animalistic slurs increased the extent to which participants endorsed harm towards them. Importantly, reading animalistic slurs did not influence the extent to which participants believed the target group possessed uniquely human qualities. Rather, the animalistic slurs influenced endorsement of harm by making the target group appear more undesirable. These findings offer a novel perspective into the nature of dehumanization and new insights into how hate speech functions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T00:13:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79824574119c48bf823df465ebe1483d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T00:13:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-79824574119c48bf823df465ebe1483d2023-07-12T07:05:22ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-07-0110710.1098/rsos.230203Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirabilityFlorence E. Enock0Harriet Over1The Alan Turing Institute, London, UKUniversity of York, York, North Yorkshire, UKIn propaganda and hate speech, target groups are often compared to dangerous and disgusting animals. Exposure to these animalistic slurs is thought to increase endorsement of intergroup harm but the mechanism by which this happens remains unclear. Across two pre-registered and highly powered studies, we examined how animalistic language influences the cultural transmission of beliefs about target groups. In line with previous work, we found that describing a novel political group with animalistic slurs increased the extent to which participants endorsed harm towards them. Importantly, reading animalistic slurs did not influence the extent to which participants believed the target group possessed uniquely human qualities. Rather, the animalistic slurs influenced endorsement of harm by making the target group appear more undesirable. These findings offer a novel perspective into the nature of dehumanization and new insights into how hate speech functions.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230203dehumanizationdehumanizing languagepropagandaintergroup harmsocial cognition |
| spellingShingle | Florence E. Enock Harriet Over Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability Royal Society Open Science dehumanization dehumanizing language propaganda intergroup harm social cognition |
| title | Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability |
| title_full | Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability |
| title_fullStr | Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability |
| title_short | Animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability |
| title_sort | animalistic slurs increase harm by changing perceptions of social desirability |
| topic | dehumanization dehumanizing language propaganda intergroup harm social cognition |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230203 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT florenceeenock animalisticslursincreaseharmbychangingperceptionsofsocialdesirability AT harrietover animalisticslursincreaseharmbychangingperceptionsofsocialdesirability |