PN-MJ Regression Models.

Dehumanization of stigmatized groups is a pressing social challenge, and to effectively address it, we must understand how it arises. Here, we identify social-cognitive antecedents of a subtle form of dehumanization known as demeaning—which occurs when a target’s “uniquely human” psychological needs (e.g., for meaning in life) are downplayed relative to their physiological needs shared with other animals. We study how demeaning arises by leveraging the Agent-Deed-Consequence (ADC) framework of moral cognition, which posits that perceptions of an Agent’s Deeds, and the Consequences of these Deeds, independently shape perceptions of the Agent’s moral character. Because morality is fundamental to perceptions of humanity, we reasoned that the perception of (im) moral character, in turn, would impact demeaning (i.e., downplaying the Agent’s psychological needs). We support this notion in a vignette experiment in a context where stigma is rampant and crucially understudied—Iran. Participants (N = 272) evaluated a stigmatized Agent—an HIV-positive individual with a history of addiction. We varied the Agent’s Deed (deceiving partner vs. being honest with a partner) and its Consequence (infecting partner with disease vs not) in a 2 x 2 design. Indeed, a negative Deed and Consequence led to greater perceived immorality. Immorality, in turn, influenced perceptions of the Agent’s “uniquely human” needs, but not their “lower” physiological needs shared with animals. Moreover, our Iranian participants’ perceptions of what is a “uniquely human” need differ from those in previous Western samples, underscoring the need for further investigation into the sociocultural forces influencing dehumanization.污名化群体的去人性化是一项亟待解决的严峻社会挑战，若要有效应对这一问题，我们必须先明晰其产生机制。本研究聚焦于一种被称为「贬损式去人性化」（demeaning）的微妙去人性化形式，旨在识别其社会认知前因——当目标个体的「独有人类」心理需求（例如对生命意义的追求）相较于其与其他动物共有的生理需求被弱化时，即构成此类贬损。我们借助道德认知领域的Agent-Deed-Consequence (ADC)框架来探究贬损式去人性化的产生路径，该框架提出，对行为者的行为及其所产生后果的感知，会独立影响对该行为者道德品性的判断。鉴于道德是人性感知的核心维度，我们推论，对（非）道德品性的感知反过来会影响贬损式去人性化程度，即弱化行为者的心理需求。我们在一个污名现象猖獗但此前极少被关注的情境——伊朗——中，通过情境实验验证了这一假设。本次实验共招募272名被试，要求其评价一名带有成瘾史的HIV（人类免疫缺陷病毒）阳性污名化行为者。我们采用2×2实验设计，操控了行为者的行为（欺骗伴侣vs.对伴侣坦诚）及其后果（将疾病传染给伴侣vs.未传染）。实验结果证实，负面行为与负面后果会引发更强的不道德感知。而不道德感知反过来会影响被试对行为者「独有人类」需求的认知，但不会影响其与动物共有的「低级」生理需求。此外，伊朗被试对「独有人类」需求的认知与此前西方样本的结果存在差异，这凸显了进一步探究影响去人性化现象的社会文化因素的必要性。