title: The impact of power on humanity: self-dehumanization in powerlessness.
abstract: Power gives people the ability to control themselves and their environment, and this control is considered a fundamental human need. We investigated whether experiencing powerlessness induces the experience of self-dehumanization using three methods: priming, role-playing, and cueing. People in a position of low power viewed themselves (Experiments 1-3) as less human relative to people in a position of high power; furthermore, people with low power believed that they were viewed as less human by others as well (Experiments 2-3). In all of the experiments, human nature traits were most negatively affected by powerlessness in self-perception judgments, and uniquely human traits were most negatively affected by powerlessness in meta-perception judgments. Furthermore, the powerless believed they were viewed as less human not only by the powerful people but also the outside observers of the power dynamic. Self-dehumanization also appears to be a consequence of powerlessness rather than an incidental result of a change in mood or a negative self-view. Our findings are an important extension of previous work on the adverse effects of powerlessness and dehumanization.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenqi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shenghua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Surina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yijie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032981:Dehumanization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult