Not Just Disgust: Fear and Anger Also Relate to Intergroup Dehumanization

Abstract

One of the most extreme expressions of prejudice is likening groups to non-human beings. Previous research relates disgust to dehumanization of social groups. However, prior studies have not examined other negative emotions in relation to dehumanization. We examined whether three emotions-anger, disgust, and fear-are associated with dehumanization of social groups. In Experiments 1 and 2 we tested these relationships measuring reactions to real groups. We found that all three emotions were uniquely related to animalistic and humanity-denial dehumanization, but only fear was related to mechanistic dehumanization. Using an orthogonal emotion grid measure in Experiment 3, we showed anger to play a primary role in dehumanization among a variety of target groups. Finally, in Experiment 4 we manipulated whether a novel group was abnormal or harmful, and found that both groups elicited more dehumanization than the control group; however, the harmful group elicited dehumanization mediated by anger and the abnormal group elicited dehumanization mediated by disgust. From this evidence, we argue that other emotions besides disgust play an important part in the dehumanization of outgroups.

Pylons ablaze: Examining the role of 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs and support for violence

“…One possible mechanism between conspiracy beliefs and violent intent is likely to be anger. Anger is usually elicited when individuals perceive an entity is intentionally threatening or inflicting harm to the self or ingroup (Giner-Sorolla, & Russell, 2019). As conspiracy theories depict 'conspirators' as hostile actors who seek to cause such intentional harm (e.g., van Prooijen & Douglas 2017), it is likely that conspiracy beliefs will evoke anger.…”

Contamination fear in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: A moderated mediation quasi-experimental model of the effect of disgust on outgroup bias towards diaspora

“…Although randomization helps in distributing any possible pre-existing individual differences between the two groups, an initial assessment of induced moral disgust, would have informed us further on the nature of our selected sample. However, previous studies in the field did use a similar manner to check for disgust induction (e.g., Giner-Sorolla & Russell, 2019 ).…”

“…Previous results demonstrated a positive association between disgust and fear of being contaminated (Deacon & Olatunji, 2007 ; Mitte, 2008 ; Olatunji et al, 2004 ), and also the relation between disgust, fear, and outgroup dehumanization, due to threats posed to one’s health (Giner-Sorolla & Russell, 2019 ). Additionally, disgust sensitivity was related to specific phobias (Matchett & Davey, 1991 ; Tolin at al., 1997 ; Thorpe & Salkovskis, 1998 ; Witcraft et al, 2020 ), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; Olatunji et al, 2011 ; Tolin et al, 2006 ).…”

Disgust Toward Interracial Couples: Mixed Feelings About Black–White Race Mixing

“…In addition, although the current research provides some evidence for an association between disgust and interracial couples, disgust often correlates with anger (Gutierrez & Giner-Sorolla, 2007). For those who strongly oppose interracial unions, anger or fear may be more relevant than disgust because of perceived harm (Giner-Sorolla & Russell, 2019; Glaser et al, 2002; Gray et al, 2014). If moral emotions serve distinct functions (Young & Tsoi, 2013), disgust might be associated with the in-group member engaging in interracial unions (for defiling the in-group), while anger might be directed toward the out-group partner (for harming the in-group).…”