Dehumanization in children: The link with moral disengagement in bullying and victimization

Abstract

The current study explored subtle dehumanization-the denial of full humanness-in children, using distinctions of forms (i.e., animalistic vs. mechanistic) and social targets (i.e., friends vs. non-friends). In addition, the link between dehumanization and moral disengagement in bullying and victimization was investigated. Participants were 800 children (7-12 years old) from third to fifth grade classrooms. Subtle animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization toward friends and non-friends were measured with the new Juvenile Dehumanization Measure. Results showed that animalistic dehumanization was more common than mechanistic dehumanization and that non-friends were dehumanized more than friends. The highest levels of dehumanization were found in animalistic form toward non-friends and the lowest levels in mechanistic form toward friends. Both moral disengagement and animalistic dehumanization toward friends were positively associated with bullying. However, moral disengagement was negatively associated with victimization, whereas both animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization toward non-friends were positively associated with victimization. The current findings indicate that children are able to distinguish different forms and targets of dehumanization and that dehumanization plays a distinct role from moral disengagement in bullying and victimization.