Self- and Other-Dehumanization Processes in Health-Related Contexts: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

Dehumanization is an everyday, pervasive phenomenon in health contexts. Given its detrimental consequences to health care, much research has been dedicated to understanding and promoting the humanization of health services. However, health care service research has neglected the sociopsychological processes involved in the dehumanization of self and others, in formal but also informal health-related contexts. Drawing upon sociopsychological models of dehumanization, this article will bridge this gap by presenting a critical review of studies on everyday meaning-making and person perception processes of dehumanization in health-related contexts. A database search was conducted in PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, using a combination of keywords on dehumanization and health/illness/body; 3,229 references were screened; 95 full texts were assessed for eligibility; 59 studies were included. Most studies focused on informal contexts, reflecting a decontextualized and one-sided view of dehumanization (i.e., not integrating actors’ and victims’ perspectives). Despite the dominant focus on self-dehumanization, emerging perspectives uncover the role of processes that deny human uniqueness to others, and their individual determinants and consequences for mental health. A few studies bring to light the functions of a variety of dehumanizing body metaphors on self- and other-dehumanization. These trends in the literature leave several gaps, which are here critically analyzed to inform future research.

Classism and dehumanization in chronic pain: A qualitative study of nurses’ inferences about women of different socio‐economic status

“…First, by examining class-based dehumanization at the interpersonal level in health relations, goes a step further than the current literature, which has neglected SES effects on health and dehumanization (Diniz et al, 2019;Haslam & Stratemeyer, 2016). First, by examining class-based dehumanization at the interpersonal level in health relations, goes a step further than the current literature, which has neglected SES effects on health and dehumanization (Diniz et al, 2019;Haslam & Stratemeyer, 2016).…”

“…This work provides theoretical, methodological, and applied contributions to the current state of the art of health and social psychology. First, by examining class-based dehumanization at the interpersonal level in health relations, goes a step further than the current literature, which has neglected SES effects on health and dehumanization (Diniz et al, 2019;Haslam & Stratemeyer, 2016). The innovative joint analysis of SES's recognition and of how it is associated with different inferencesthat is, different imaginationsabout people in pain, contributes to a better understanding of the complex paths that the belief systems of classism may follow in health relations for the dehumanization of those with lower SES.…”

“…Therefore, health psychology still needs a 'stronger consideration of SES' (Schuz, 2017,p.5). SES has already been shown to be associated with health behavioursfor example, physical activity (Vasiljevic, Ng, Griffin, Sutton, & Marteau, 2016) or early help-seeking for breast cancer (Marcu, Black, Vedsted, Lyratzopoulos, & Whitaker, 2016)but its role in the dehumanization of low-SES pain patients by health professionals is still poorly understood (Diniz, Bernardes, & Castro, 2019;Haslam & Stratemeyer, 2016).…”

Disruption, Self-Presentation, and Defensive Tactics at the Threshold of Learning

“…This tactic also includes describing people as "ignorant" (Sammut & Sartawi, 2012), uneducated, or nonexpert (Batel & Castro, 2009). In more extreme forms, it entails essentializing (Kadianaki & Andreouli, 2017;Raudsepp & Wagner, 2011) and dehumanizing (Diniz et al, 2019) people such that their perspective is considered not worth taking.…”

Social Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

“…Dehumanization does not have to be explicit and discriminatory, it can also occur implicitly based on automatic, unconscious perceptions of others (Haslam & Loughnan, 2014). Unfortunately, dehumanization is a common occurrence in both formal (i.e., with physicians or in a healthcare setting) and informal (i.e., with friends or loved ones) health contexts (Diniz et al, 2019), taking forms such as neglecting patient perspectives or ignoring patients concerns. Although it can have negative effects on patients, dehumanization by healthcare workers might offer these workers some protection from the symptoms of burnout (Vaes & Muratore, 2013).…”