Agency Attribution and Biological Dehumanisation: Preliminary Evidence

Dehumanisation is the perception of someone less than human. Several studies have used innovative approaches to investigate the subtle ways in which humanity can be denied. While most of these models clearly distinguish humans from animals and robots, none adequately capture the huge range of dehumanisation that exists in metaphorical thought, such as disease-related metaphors (i.e., biologisation). Building on existing theoretical frameworks concerning dehumanisation, we developed a set of items (i.e., the Tripartite Agency Attribution Scale) measuring the capacity to experience emotions (affective mental states), produce effective actions (behavioural potential), and think rationally (cognitive abilities), and demonstrated the relevance of this approach to assess biological dehumanisation. Study 1 (N = 512) and Study 2 (N = 237) consistently showed that viruses (vs. animals vs. humans) are perceived as possessing behavioural potential but lacking affective mental states and higher-order cognitions. Accordingly, Study 3 (N = 250) showed that biologised (vs. animalised vs. mechanised vs. non-dehumanised) social groups in Italian society are perceived as primarily possessing behavioural potential with limited affective and cognitive abilities. Our research provides empirical evidence of a new, subtle way to investigate one of the most understudied forms of dehumanisation, while also expanding the literature on this process. Please refer to the Supporting Information section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.