The primary role of morality in predicting humanization

In two studies we investigated the relationship between morality and perceived humanity of others. Given the relevance attributed to this dimension in impression formation, we predicted that morality would play a primary role also in the judgment of humanity . Study 1 showed that morality is associated to humanity to a higher degree than sociability or competence. Study 2 showed that a target depicted as high (versus low) in morality was attributed uniquely human emotions to a higher extent whereas sociability and competence had no impact on the same measure. Interestingly findings revealed also a halo effect of morality as high morality targets were also seen as highly sociable and competent. In contrast , high sociability targets and high competence targets were not seen as highly moral. Finally, Study 2 showed that judgments of humanity mediate the effect of morality on intentions of interacting with the target. The implications of these findings will be discussed.