Dehumanizing the lowest of the low. Neuroimaging responses to extreme outgroups Lasana T Harris

Susan T. Fiske

The authors of this study posit that extreme out-groups as defined by the Stereotype Content Model (more on that next) will be perceived to be less than human by participants and that this dehumanization will be manifested in neural activity patterns

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The Stereotype Content Model (SCM)

SCM is a psychological theory the breaks the content of stereotypes into 2 categories

1.) Warmth (high or low)A fundamental friend or foe judgmentHelp or harm?

2.) Competance (high or low)A judgment on how capable one is at acting out intentions

Combinations of high and low Warmth and Competance results in 4 possible clusters people may fall into and defines how we observe them.

The SCM also attributes a general emotion to each of these groups.

(Note the object controls)

The present study attempts to affirm this prediction through the measuring of neural responses in the presence of visual stimuli containing individuals in various SCM groupings

Brain Areas focused on were the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (social cognition) The Amygdala (emotional memory and processing) The Insula (emotion and homeostatic maintenance)

The SCM predicts that extreme out-groups, those with low warmth and competence will be dehumanized.

Method-Overview-

Participants saw images of different Social groups in Study 1 Objects in Study 2 Then made an affective assessment of each picture while in an fMRI.

For example, Participants were shown an image of a disabled

person and then decided which of the 4 SCM emotions they felt most in response while their BOLD signals were measured.

Method-Participants-

22 Princeton undergrads 12 women Mean age: 19.5 6 ethnic minority No mental deficits

Lesions Brain damage Left handedness Neurological disorder

Method -Stimulus-

STUDY 1 - 48 colour photographs of 8 social groups Images selected from an initial 80 photographs that 254

undergraduated rated in terms of each SCM emotion. Only those with significant elicited unique emotion were

selected and the other 32 were dropped.

STUDY 2 - 8 images of objects were selected via previous parameters.

Method -Procedure-

1.) Before entering scanner, participants practiced rating neutral landscapes on each SCM emotion (pride, envy, pity, disgust) on a computer

2.) Inside scanner, photographs were presented in six runs each containing 10 pictures

Method-Procedure-

Study 1 Study21.) Picture presented 6s 4s2.) Affect Response screen 2s 4s3.) Green fixation delay cross 11s 11s4.) Red warning cross 1s 1s Each photo was presented 1 time in Study 1 and 3 times in Study 2

Method-Procedure-

After scanning session Participants saw same stimuli on grey scale

pictures

They rated each picture along a 5 point scale for each SCM emotion.

Also relayed what additional emotions they felt after viewing the pictures

Method-Procedure-

Participants were then probed for suspicion-None were deemed suspicious

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Results Study 1 pt. 1

Emotional judgments made by participants in agreed with those predicted.

(participants in scanner gave same ratings as the original 254 raters)

mPFC activity was significantly above baseline levels for all clusters save the disgust group (low-low).

Positive t values represent higher activity during stimulus presentation.

Results Study 1 pt.2

Instead, for the disgust (low-low) cluster, significant activity was measured in the

Left Insula Consistent with + Disgust Right Amygdala responses to objects

Study 2 Results

Able to see right amygdala and left insula activations

Discussion pt. 1As hypothesized

Some social groups appear to be dehumanized At least by absence of typical neural signature for

social cognition and increased amygdala and insula activations.

It is also important to note not all out groups are necessarily dehumanized.

Discussion pt. 2

Justifying the disgust associationEssentially a statistical review

“In addition, the low-low quadrant differentially elicits neural patterns consistent with disgust (insula) and fear (amygdala), according to meta-analyses Murphy, Nimmo-Smith, & Lawrence, 2003; Phan, Wager, Taylor, & Liberzon, 2002”

Discussion pt. 3The current results empirically support the idea of dehumanization and are consistent with verbal reports. By providing neural evidence of the phenomenon, these data go beyond verbal reports, which may be subject to self-presentational concerns.

Furthermore, if replicated and extended, this kind of evidence could begin to help explain the all-too-human ability to commit atrocities such as hate crimes, prisoner abuse, and genocide against people who are dehumanized

Criticisms-Some of the figures left you to figure out their meaning somewhat-Didn’t consider much past their own study in discussion-Left me wanting for conditions and contexts that may garner this phenomenon.

Paper was perhaps too abstract in contrast to very real consequences

-Perhaps for another paper (not even sure if this would be legal or allowed) run experiments that could elicit these neural patterns

Paper Pros

RelevantAt least from a layman’s perspective; this is the bread and butter of psychology

Concise/clearIt was not that long. They left out their results and methods that did not yield significant results.

Interesting

“Out-group dehumanization is at least as old as the U.S. Constitution1 and as modern as current forms of dehumanization, described by out-group infrahumanization theory”

Turns out dehumanization is only a couple hundred years old. Nice

The parameters presented for dehumanization of extreme out groups fall far across a spectrum that definitively exceeds those defined by the history of the United states.

What garners dehumanization?

http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

ContextSystemExtremism

Focusing on differences between groups Demonizing other groups

Fin

“Where is your concluding image?”

Jack Thomson

Link to main paper: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/

17/10/847.short

Literature and Political Science

Lord of the fliesHeart of DarknessClash of CivilizationsOrwell

Themes of dehumanization run through these hugely popular works

None of them needed a brain scan to figure this out.

Other interesting papers

How ordinary people torture enemy prisoners http://www.sciencemag.org/content/

306/5701/1482.full

Dehumanization in the Health Care system http://pps.sagepub.com/content/7/2/176.full