“They” are Less Human than “We” are: Modern Prejudice in Human Terms

Abstract

Recently a new line of research in social psychology demonstrated that people tend to reserve the human essence to describe their own group, perceiving outgroup members as “infra-humans” (Leyens et al., 2000, 2003). The present article summarizes the main findings of this new way of theorizing. Specifically, this theory focused on uniquely human emotions. When asked to describe their own group and a relevant outgroup, individuals ascribed less uniquely human emotions to the outgroup. Given that all uniquely human characteristics are necessary but none of them are sufficient to be considered fully human, Leyens and colleagues interpreted this differential attribution of uniquely human emotions in terms of infra-humanization. In addition, this article introduces an extension of the infra-humanization theory broadening its premises to research on stereotypes. A first study is reported that demonstrates that ingroup stereotypes bear more human meaning than outgrouup stereotypes. Overall, this research shows that prejudice even today is marked by differences between the ingroup and the outgroup in human terms.