Dehumanization is about attributing traits to other people that we consider typical of animals and denying those same people human traits. In other words, dehumanizing means considering someone “less person and more animal. “But what about metahumanization?
Not only can we dehumanize the people around us, but we can also feel dehumanized. This is called semihumanization. Thus, half of humanization thinks that others dehumanize us.
- It is to think that others consider us inferior to our representation of the category person.
- This process happens in our cognition.
- It is a belief.
- The prefix? Goal? It means thinking about what other people think of us.
Thus, half humanization is characterized by the thought that others devalue us and attribute animal traits to us, this metacognition can lead to the development of hostile behaviors towards those who believe that we see ourselves that way.
Dehumanization at the group level can be understood as a biological process that takes others away from their group identity, removes the person from socially accepted morality and highlights the inconsistency of their values with ours, a process that facilitates violence against the dehumanized person or group.
Within the theory of dehumanization, we can highlight the following models: subhumanization and the dual model of dehumanization.
According to inhumanization, individuals refuse emotions to members of other groups, so that they cannot be distinguished from animals, so that those who dehumanize attribute an animal essence to the dehumanized, preserving in their design a human essence for the members of their group.
Obviously, the emotions these people deny are the most human, that is, secondary emotions such as shame and euphoria, however, there is no denial of primary emotions, such as fear and others that we share with animals.
According to the dual model of dehumanization, there are two types: animalization and mechanization. On the one hand, by denying the exclusively human traits that distinguish us from animals, such as cognitive behavior, refinement and civilization, we would animalize.
On the other hand, we may deny some traits typical of human nature, but they do not necessarily distinguish us from other animals. We’re talking about emotion and affectivity. If we denies these characteristics, we machine.
Second, groups that are denied these characteristics that make them human end up being compared to animals. What about groups that aren’t denied animal characteristics?After all, is human beings an animal too?Robots.
Dehumanization can also occur in two different ways. As with prejudice, we can find subtle and explicit dehumanization. Subtle forms of dehumanization deny some, but not all, characteristics.
Therefore, the person is not considered to be fully human, but it is not assimilated to animals either. On the other hand, explicit dehumanization is about directly considering that members of a group are closer to animals than to people. It’s a more radical manifestation of dehumanization.
One of the differences between these two forms of dehumanization is their consequences. Obviously, a more explicit form of the process can have more negative consequences than a more subtle form.
However, the subtlest forms of dehumanization are easier to accept because they are harder to identify and eliminate.
“The demonization of people from the lower social classes has been a practical way to justify an unequal society throughout the centuries. ” Owen jones
What happens when we think someone is dehumanizing us? When half of humanization occurs, the most obvious answer is dehumanization itself, that is, if we believe that someone is denying us human characteristics, it is very likely that our response is to adopt the same attitude.
It’s like a vicious circle, but that vicious circle doesn’t end there, because feeling dehumanized is also linked to the adoption of hostile responses and behaviors.
So we can say that feeling dehumanized by someone leads even to dehumanization, which in turn leads to the development of hostile attitudes. By hostile attitudes we mean aggression, support for violent measures or refusal to share.
For example, we can use the immigrant case to say that if we think they are dehumanizing us, it can lead to the development of hostile behaviors, to think that they are dehumanizing us will force us to support the laws that prevent them from entering. our country and support measures such as torture and revenge.
Decidedly, when someone denies our humanity, we too will deny their own, only this will generate a vicious circle whose outcome will include aggressive behavior towards the other, while the other will also behave aggressively towards us.
This is the great danger of metahumanization: a mutual hostility difficult to break.