Moral elevation mitigates dehumanization of ethnic outgroups

Abstract

The pervasive social bias of perceiving outgroup members as less than human can contribute to discrimination and intergroup harm. Given the strong influence of our emotional states on how we perceive others, we theorized that pro-social emotions may offer a route to ameliorating ethnic outgroup dehumanization. In particular, witnessing exemplary moral acts elicits self-transcending and pro-social affective reactions referred to as moral elevation. In two experiments (N_tot =714), we examined the effect of induced moral elevation on ethnic outgroup dehumanization, relative to effects of a neutral baseline and a positive affect control condition. Dehumanization was assessed via endorsements of animalistic traits attributed to members of commonly dehumanized outgroups in the US, including Muslims and African-Americans. Across both studies, moral elevation significantly reduced dehumanization, whereas positive affect alone did not. Furthermore, Study 2 showed that the effect of moral elevation on dehumanization was mediated by a sense of superordinate identity (i.e., shared humanity). Taken together, these findings point to the power of witnessing moral acts for helping us fully recognize the humanity of others.