They're Not True Humans: Beliefs about Moral Character Drive Denials of Humanity

A puzzling feature of paradigmatic cases of dehumanization is that the perpetrators often attribute uniquely human traits to their victims. This has become known as the paradox of dehumanization. I address the paradox by arguing that the perpetrators think about their victims as human in one sense, while denying that they are human in another sense. I do so by providing evidence that people harbor a dual character concept of humanity. Research has found that dual character concepts have two independent sets of criteria for their application, one of which is descriptive and one of which is normative. Four experiments provided evidence that people deploy a descriptive criterion according to which being human is a matter of being a Homo sapiens; as well as a normative criterion according to which being human is a matter of possessing a deep-seated commitment to do the morally right thing. Importantly, I found that people are willing to affirm that someone is human in the descriptive sense, while denying that they are human in the normative sense, and vice versa. In addition to providing a solution to the paradox of dehumanization, these findings suggest that perceptions of moral character have a central role to play in driving dehumanization.

Automated summary

A puzzling aspect of dehumanization is that perpetrators often attribute human traits to their victims, known as the paradox of dehumanization. The author addresses this by arguing that perpetrators think of their victims as human in one sense, but deny their humanity in another sense. The author provides evidence for a dual character concept of humanity, where being human is based on both descriptive and normative criteria. Importantly, people are willing to acknowledge someone as human in a descriptive sense, while denying their humanity in a normative sense, and vice versa. These findings not only resolve the paradox of dehumanization, but also suggest that perceptions of moral character play a central role in driving dehumanization.