DEHUMANIZING THE LOWEST OF THE LOW: NEUROIMAGING RESPONSES TO EXTREME OUT-GROUPS Lasana T. Harris and Susan T. Fiske Princeton University, 2006

Introduction - Prejudice Allport (1954), father of prejudice research  Antipathy based on a perceived social category Not as “black and white” as like/dislike – different types of prejudice Extreme forms of prejudice may deny their targets full humanity

Stereotype Content Model (SCM)  Predicts differentiated prejudices 1. Friend-foe judgment (warmth) 2. Capability judgment (competence)  Societal groups:  intend either help or harm, are either capable or incapable of enacting these intentions

Stereotype Content Model (SCM)  4 combinations of the dimensions  4 emotions towards social groups 1. Pride 2. Envy 3. Pity 4. Disgust  Not all groups provoke animosity  Competent + warm = middle-class, pride and admiration  Competent + not warm = rich people, envy and jealousy  Warm + incompetent = elderly people, pity and sympathy

Stereotype Content Model (SCM) Low warmth + low competence = most extreme out- groups, disgust and contempt  Based on perceived moral violations and subsequent negative outcomes these groups allegedly cause themselves  Dislike and disrespect  Extreme discrimination: Excluding out-groups from full humanity

The Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC)  fMRI data:  mPFC differentially activated in social compared to nonsocial cognition  especially when required to make social judgments about people “Social groups falling into the low-warmth/low- competence quadrant of the SCM might not significantly activate the mPFC”

Participants  22 Princeton University undergraduates, for course credit  Right-handed  Reported no abnormal neurological condition, head trauma, brain lesions  Normal or corrected vision  Mean age across the two studies: 19.5 years  12 participants were women  6 were ethnic minorities

Method  Participants shown images of Different social groups (Study 1, 10 subjects) Different objects (Study 2, 12 subjects)  Assessed each picture  which of the four SCM emotions best described how the image made them feel  Once inside the scanner, once outside  Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes recorded

The Images Study 1  48 colour photographs of eight different social groups Study 2  Eight images of objects, each shown three times each Each study had six filler neutral images Each picture depicted one of the four SCM quadrants  254 undergraduate students had pretested 80 images:  “How much of the following emotions does this picture make you feel?” on a 5-point scale  ANOVA, t-tests – only pictures with reliable effects selected

Results – Study 1 Support for the dehumanization hypothesis  Participants identified the predicted emotions for the pictures of the social groups  Outside scanner: low-low rated higher on disgust

Results – Study 1  Significant mPFC activity for pride, envy, pity  No activity above significant threshold for disgust

Results – Study 1  Did find that there was activation in the left insula and the right amygdala  Insula – disgust  Amygdala - fear

Results – Study 2  No mPFC activity above baseline for disgust- inducing objects  Small yet significant mPFC activation for objects inducing envy  Pride, envy, pity: social emotions felt during presence (implied or actual) of a person  Participants reported envy towards an object only if the presence of a person was implied (stack of money)

Discussion  Used to investigate and reduce “hate crimes, prisoner abuse”  Clear to read  Focus on previous research and the introduction  Almost no discussion  Specific examples of extreme out-groups  What eight social groups shown – which ones elicited disgust  Significance of testing inside and outside the scanner

Discussion  Rating of photos to standardize  Done by Princeton students as well: more likely to have similar opinions as their peers – no random sampling for study or standardization  Objects induced people’s emotions when they weren’t meant to  In study 2, the pictures were repeated three times, to be consistent: have 48 pictures as well  Amygdala and insula mentioned only in passing – study that further to see if combined that is what they imply or if its only when they are separate  Aspects that make people feel this way – living conditions, inability to relate  What manipulations/changes could make people not feel this way