Reducing dehumanisation outcomes towards Blacks: The role of multiple categorisation and human identity

This contribution addresses the issue of reduction of dehumanisation towards Blacks, an outgroup that has been targeted by heinous prejudice. The study tested, for the first time, whether the combination of multiple categorisation and human identity represents the most optimal condition for reducing dehumanisation towards Blacks. To this aim, a univariate experimental design (target description: simple white categorization, simple black categorization, multiple black categorization, human identity prime plus simple black categorization, human identity prime plus multiple black categorization) was set. The simple white vs. black categorization conditions corresponded to traditional dichotomous categorization. In the multiple black categorization condition four additional categorical criteria were added to define the Black target. In the human identity condition a prime of human identity was added to the simple black categorization. In the combined condition, human identity prime was added to the multiple categorical description of the Black target. Dehumanisation was measured through attribution of secondary emotions and inalienability of human rights to the target. Results highlighted the combination of multiple categorisation and human identity as the most effective strategy in reducing dehumanisation towards Blacks both through attribution of secondary emotions and acknowledgment of inalienability of human rights of the target. Evidence of this study sheds light on the possible ways through which conceiving others in terms of complex categorical criteria, that is, as members of the human group in conjunction with other communal or different social categories, can lead to more harmonious intergroup relations.