Socioeconomic Status and Dehumanization in India: Elaboration of the Stereotype Content Model in a Non-WEIRD Sample

Abstract

A perceiver’s socioeconomic status (SES) should influence social perceptions toward others. However, there is little evidence for this effect within and beyond Western samples. We hence evaluate the relationship between perceiver SES and dehumanized perception in a society where status is historically defined: India. Across two studies, we hypothesized that perceiver SES would predict dehumanization toward societal outcasts—beggars—and norm violators. Replicating previous work, in Study 1, upper SES perceivers dehumanized beggars more than lower SES perceivers; accounted for by low self-reported contact likelihood. In Study 2, norm violators were perceived as less human but more so by lower rather than upper SES perceivers. This novel finding was partially explained by perceivers viewing female violators as less prototypical, aligned with theorizing in gender research. Our results indicate that SES influences dehumanization via contact likelihood as well as the perceived normativity of a targets’ behavior.