Integrating Dehumanization and Attachment in the Prediction of Teen Dating Violence Perpetration

Abstract

Dehumanization has the potential to account for different abusive behaviors because it involves making negative judgments of others that make it easier to harm them. However, research has not resorted to this mechanism to analyze teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration, nor has it examined its association with the broader representations of others linked to attachment. The first objective of this study was to analyze whether dehumanization of one’s partner (lesser perceived agency and experience) and attribution of evilness were associated with a higher level of TDV perpetration and specific attachment styles. The second objective was to develop a structural equation model (SEM) that allowed integration of the links between all these factors. Participants in this cross-sectional study were 1799 adolescents who completed a survey in high schools. The results showed that those who were classified as high in TDV perpetration did perceive lower agency, lower experience, and higher evilness in their partners. The dehumanized perception of one’s partner was found to vary according to the attachment styles, with those highest in avoidance (dismissive and fearful) dehumanizing their partners the most. The SEM showed that dehumanization is related to avoidant and not to anxious attachment. It also pointed to the relevance of attribution of evilness in predicting TDV perpetration. The invariance of the model was tested across gender subsamples. These findings allow better understanding of how violence may arise in early relationships and where to focus intervention with adolescents.

How human are you? The humanness scale (¿Cuán humano eres tú? La escala de humanidad)

“…In this sense, the Humanness Scale could apply to a widespread set of interpersonal and intergroup contexts, leading us to the study of dehumanization in daily interactions with a propositional (instead of associative) scale. Therefore, we believe that it can be helpful to assess dehumanization in different contexts and to research its relationship with other important social variables such as social inequality (Sainz et al, 2020), stigmatization (Betancor et al, 2016), ostracism (Bastian & Haslam, 2010) or interpersonal violence (Morera et al, 2022).…”

“…En este sentido, la escala de humanidad podría aplicarse a un amplio abanico de contextos interpersonales e intergrupales, facilitando el estudio de la deshumanización en las interacciones cotidianas mediante una escala proposicional (en lugar de asociativa). Por tanto, creemos que podría ser útil evaluar la deshumanización en distintos contextos e investigar su relación con otras variables sociales importantes como la desigualdad social (Sainz et al, 2020), la estigmatización (Betancor et al, 2016), el ostracismo (Bastian & Haslam, 2010) o la violencia interpersonal (Morera et al, 2022). 1 2…”

Investigating the link between biological dehumanization and indirect aggression

“…Rudman and Mescher (2012) demonstrated that men who implicitly dehumanize women (as animals and objects) are also likely to rape and sexually harass them. Additionally, several studies (Bevens & Loughnan, 2019; Morera et al, 2022; Pecini et al, 2023) confirmed that dehumanization is associated with abuse in romantic relationships, greater dating violence, and more sexual aggression towards women.…”

Dehumanization: Beyond the Intergroup to the Interpersonal

“…Regarding the association between the predictors of dehumanization and its enactment, this research has discovered various contemporaneous and developmental predictors of dehumanization. One contemporaneous predictor is attachment insecurity, which is associated with greater maltreatment of relationship partners involving the denial of human qualities (Knox et al, 2022; Morera et al, 2022,). Indeed, Knox et al (2022) found that perpetration of maltreatment (which includes coercion, manipulation, and dehumanization) is associated with the attachment insecurity of both the perpetrator and their partner.…”

“…Those who perpetrate interpersonal dehumanization also act in a more insensitive manner when meeting their partner’s socioemotional needs (Pizzirani et al, 2019). Finally, those who perpetrate dehumanization are at greater risk of perpetrating both physical and emotional abuse (Pizzirani et al, 2019; Pizzirani & Karantzas, 2019) and dating or sexual violence (e.g., Morera et al, 2022).…”