When dehumanization does (and does not) matter: Exploring the relationship between social justice motivations, avoidant behaviors, and intentions to help individuals experiencing homelessness

Abstract

Highly stigmatized groups, such as those experiencing homelessness, commonly encounter both animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization. Yet, how and when each form is related to the treatment of such groups is not well understood. We explored the relative importance of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization in predicting behaviors to avoid and willingness to help individuals experiencing homelessness. Additionally, we probed social justice importance and engagement as potential moderators of the relationship between dehumanization and behavior. Study 1 demonstrated that animalistic dehumanization was a more significant predictor of avoidant behaviors than mechanistic dehumanization. Notably, social justice motivations moderated this relationship such that when individuals were low in social justice motivations, avoidance was high irrespective of dehumanizing attitudes. Study 2 aimed to replicate these findings in a more general sample with attention to a new outcome variable—intentions to help individuals experiencing homelessness. Results again demonstrated that animalistic dehumanization was a stronger predictor of behavior than mechanistic dehumanization. Unlike Study 1, social justice motivations did not moderate the relationship between dehumanization and intentions to help. Rather, social justice importance was a stronger predictor of variance in willingness to help than dehumanizing attitudes. Together, our findings suggest that the personal importance of social justice issues may be just as vital as reducing negative attitudes to increase positive engagement with individuals experiencing homelessness and potentially others who belong to similarly dehumanized groups.