Mechanical Asians and Animalistic Blacks: The Racial Symmetry of Two Forms of Dehumanization, and Its Social Implications

We present evidence from five pre-registered studies that Blacks and Asians are differentially dehumanized in two different forms of dehumanizations (i.e., animalistic and mechanical) by Americans, and discuss their social implications. Study 1, Study 2 and Study 4 demonstrate a symmetry of dehumanization of Blacks and Asians such that 1) Blacks are animalistically dehumanized more than Asians, 2) Asians are more mechanically dehumanized than Blacks, 3) Blacks are more animalically dehumanized than they are mechanically dehumanized, and 4) Asians are more mechanically dehumanized than they are animalistically dehumanized. Study 3 demonstrates that Blacks and Asians also report that they experience dehumanization in a manner consistent with the symmetry, a pattern that Whites also recognize. Finally, we show that two forms of dehumanizations have real world implications. In particular, Study 4 shows that people’s dehumanized perceptions of Blacks and Asians are uniquely predictive of their romantic preferences for Blacks and Asians, and Study 5 shows people who have hiring experience make leadership selection choices for Blacks and Asians differently along the dimension of animalistic-mechanical dehumanization.

The Masses are the Ruling Classes

The Masses Are the Ruling Classes handles a neglected theme: social policy in the United States is determined by mass consent. Contemporary explanations of decision making in the United States typically attribute power over policy making to a variety of hidden forces and illegitimate elites, holding the masses innocent of their own problems. Yet the enormous openness of the society and nearly universal suffrage sustain democratic consent as more plausible than the alternatives (conspiracy, propaganda, usurpation, autonomous government, and imperfect pluralism). Despite the multitude of problems that the nation faces, its citizens are not oppressed. The core problem that blocks the maturation of American society is not democratic participation, but its content; popular preferences are romantic rather than pragmatic. None of these programs achieve their ends of poverty reduction or behavioral change. Rather, they persist as testimonials to America’s romantic preferences. Thus, if the American people are largely responsible for social policy, then they are also responsible for the problems that beset the nation, notably enormous economic and social inequality. If the masses rule policy choice, then the persistence of material and social deprivation that lies easily within the economic capacities of the nation to address suggests that the nation abides its inequalities and suffering. The commitment of American society to policy romanticism and its rejection of pragmatism blocks its social development.