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The present research aims at expanding the literature on biologization (i.e., a form of dehumanization in which others are perceived as contagious entities) by providing the first empirical evidence of the link between this sociopsychological process and indirect aggression (i.e., behaviours intended to harm someone in a roundabout manner, such as excluding them from a group or society). We first identified the most dehumanized social groups in Italy. Then, by using cluster analysis, we demonstrated that biologized social groups (i.e., drug addicts, homeless people, prostitutes, and sick people) tend especially to be victims of indirect rather than direct aggression tendencies (i.e., intentions against individuals or groups to cause damage through face-to-face confrontation). Furthermore, we found that social groups associated with disease-related metaphors are more likely to be victims of indirect aggression than social groups perceived as animal-like (i.e., immigrants, prisoners, and Roma). These findings enrich our understanding of biological dehumanization and enhance the so far scarce literature on the topic.

Over the last few years, the use of social media has been increasing exponentially. At the same time, several studies have reported an intensification of materialistic tendencies, especially among the youth, those who use social media the most. Although several studies have already investigated the consequences of their use, more is needed to know about the association between social media and materialism. Instagram is one of the most widely used social media in the world, not only to share personal content but also to advertise products and services, enabling users themselves to earn money through the publication of commercial content. Through a correlational study (N = 480), we verified the link between the use of Instagram and materialism. Additionally, we proposed the existence of a connection between Instagram, materialism, the objectification of others, and system justification beliefs. Furthermore, the analysis of the direct and indirect effects showed that the link between the use of Instagram and both the objectification of others and system justification beliefs is mediated by materialism. Moreover, using Instagram to achieve economic benefits can play a fundamental role. Finally, the implications of these results are discussed. Given the negative impact of materialism, objectification of others, and system justification in perpetuating socioeconomic inequalities, this study provides significant new insights into examining the relationship between these factors and social media usage.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly developing technology that has the potential to create previously unimaginable chances for our societies. Still, the public's opinion of AI remains mixed. Since AI has been integrated into many facets of daily life, it is critical to understand how people perceive these systems. The present work investigated the perceived social risk and social value of AI. In a preliminary study, AI's social risk and social value were first operationalized and explored by adopting a correlational approach. Results highlighted that perceived social value and social risk represent two significant and antagonistic dimensions driving the perception of AI: the higher the perceived risk, the lower the social value attributed to AI. The main study considered pretested AI applications in different domains to develop a classification of AI applications based on perceived social risk and social value. A cluster analysis revealed that in the two-dimensional social risk × social value space, the considered AI technologies grouped into six clusters, with the AI applications related to medical care (e.g., assisted surgery) unexpectedly perceived as the riskiest ones. Understanding people's perceptions of AI can guide researchers, developers, and policymakers in adopting an anthropocentric approach when designing future AI technologies to prioritize human well-being and ensure AI's responsible and ethical development in the years to come.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly expanding field that aims to develop machines capable of performing tasks that were previously considered unique to humans, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. The recent release of several tools based on AI (e.g. ChatGPT) has sparked debates on the potential of this technology and garnered widespread attention in the mainstream media. Using a socio-psychological approach, in three studies (total N = 410), we demonstrate that when faced with Generative AI’s ability to reproduce the complexity of human cognitive capabilities, participants reported significantly higher negative emotions than those in the control group. In turn, negative emotions elicited by a specific type of AI (e.g. generative AI) were associated to the perception of threat extended to AI technologies as a whole, understood as a threat to various aspects of human life, including jobs, resources, identity, uniqueness, and value. Our findings emphasise the importance of considering emotional and societal impacts when developing and deploying advanced AI technologies and implementing responsible guidelines to minimise adverse effects. As AI technology advances, addressing public concerns and regulating its usage is crucial for the benefit of society. To achieve this goal, collaboration between experts, policymakers, and the public is necessary.

The objective of the present study was to examine gender stereotypes and sexualization in Italian television advertisements aimed at children. For this purpose, content analysis method was used to analyze 185 commercials broadcast from 6 pm to 8:30 pm over the three Italian television channels dedicated to children which attract the largest audience share. In order to allow comparison with previous research on gender stereotyping, two raters coded a series of variables common to similar investigations (i.e., verbs used in the ads, voice-over, voice-over message, setting, pace of the ads, activities performed by the main characters). Results indicate that gender stereotypes are still prevalent in Italian children's television commercials. Furthermore, although the level of sexualization of children is low, we found that girls tend to be more sexualized than boys, especially in terms of "adultification." Our findings provide an updated picture of children's advertising in Italy by also expanding the literature on gender role stereotyping and sexualization in television commercials.

Organizational dehumanization (OD) is a pervasive phenomenon that can be defined as the employee's perception of being dehumanized, treated as an instrument, and denied personal subjectivity by their organization. Studies examining dehumanization in the workplace have proliferated in recent years and increasingly underscore the insidious effects of OD for employees, their social relations, and the organization itself. Here, we review research over the past 5 years on OD that has contributed significantly to our understanding of its (organizational, interpersonal, situational, and environmental) triggers and its consequences at individual and organizational levels. We conclude by discussing future research directions that may equip us to better understand and protect humanness at work.

In the present work, we analysed a broader impact of self-objectification at the workplace, that is the workers’ undermined intentions to protest against the existing social inequalities. In doing so, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving factory workers (N = 156). A serial mediation model showed that their self-objectification, in terms of decreased self-attribution of humanness and increased self-perception as instrument-like, was linked to diminished beliefs in personal free will which, in turn, was associated with increased system justification and decreased activist tendencies. Theoretical contributions for self-objectification literature and practical implications in the maintenance of the existing social inequalities are discussed.

Self-objectification at the workplace is the employees’ perception of being less human and more instrument-like. We explored whether perceived ethical climate – the shared perceptions of how the organization deals with ethical issues – represents an antecedent of self-objectification, in the light of the social identity approach. In a correlational study (N =239), we found that an ethical climate of collectivism and interdependence (i.e., friendship) reduced self-objectification, via higher levels of organizational identification; the opposite emerged with regards to an ethical climate of individualism and independence (i.e., self-interest). Results are discussed in terms of workers’ wellbeing and organizational policies.

Objectification refers to the perception and treatment of human beings as mere objects. Although this dehumanizing process has deeply permeated the domain of work throughout history, social psychology researchers have only recently begun to empirically investigate it. Here, we review the recent literature that analysed working objectification by considering its two main facets: objectification (when workers are objectified by others) and self-objectification (when workers objectify themselves). First, we theoretically define the construct of working objectification, disentangling it from related constructs and reviewing the research on motivational and cognitive processes underpinning workers’ objectification. Then, we focus on the workers’ perspective and systematise the research on the consequences of the metaperception of being objectified. Finally, we focus on a series of experimental and field studies that analyse the antecedents and consequences of workers’ self-objectification. We conclude by discussing future directions and highlighting the theoretical and practical contributions of this line of research.

The current work scenario is pervaded by widespread perceptions of job insecurity, which is one of the main stress factors for workers and their well-being. This article aims to investigate the link between these perceptions and a most inner dimension, that is, people's tendency to self-objectify (i.e., self-viewing as objects rather than fully human beings). Furthermore, we aim to verify the role of this self-objectifying process in explaining the well-established relation between perceived job insecurity and well-being. Across four studies and a single-article meta-analysis (total N = 684), we show that perceived job insecurity is consistently linked with self-objectification. Furthermore, this objectifying self-perception is associated with decreased well-being and plays a mediational role in the link between perceived job insecurity and this latter variable.

Nowadays, binge-watching (i.e., watching multiple episodes of a TV series in one session) has become a widespread practice of media consumption, raising concerns about its negative outcomes. Nevertheless, previous research has overlooked the underlying psychological mechanisms leading to binge-watching. In the present work, we investigated some of the psychological variables that could favor binge-watching tendencies in a sample of TV series viewers (N = 196). To this aim, psychological determinants of problematic digital technologies usage (i.e., feelings of loneliness), as well as some of the mechanisms related to the enjoyment of media contents (i.e., escapism and the identification with media characters), were considered as predictors of the tendency to binge-watch. Results indicated that higher feelings of loneliness were associated with higher levels of problematic digital technologies usage. Additionally, direct and indirect effects showed that only escapism – out of the four dimensions measuring the problematic use of Internet-related technologies – predicted participants’ stronger identification with media characters, which in turn promoted greater binge-watching tendencies. Overall, we suggest that binge-watching could be interpreted as a coping strategy for media escapists, who enjoy TV series as a privileged online space in which the need to escape finds its fulfillment, allowing them to manage loneliness by identifying with a fictitious character.

Recent research has revealed that work often can undermine people's humanness by promoting a view of them as mere objects. In particular, the workers’ meta-perceptions of being treated as company resources (i.e., organizational dehumanization) and their self-perceptions of being instrument-like (i.e., self-objectification) could be triggered by several factors. Previous research has identified that abusive supervisors and engaging in objectifying (repetitive, fragmented and other oriented) tasks are two of the main key factors that affect worker's dehumanization. The present project aims to disentangle the extent both factors (perceptions of abusive leadership and performing objectifying tasks) contribute to created perceptions of organizational dehumanization and self-objectification among workers that, ultimately, affects workers job satisfaction. In Study 1 (N = 208 workers), we measured the extent perceived abusive supervisors and objectifying job features predicted organizational dehumanization, self-objectification, and job satisfaction. The results indicate that abusive supervisors predicted perceptions of organizational dehumanization and workers self-objectification in a higher extent than objectifying job features, while workers job satisfaction was predicted in a higher extent by objectifying job features. In Study 2 (N = 141), we experimentally manipulated the abusive (versus nonabusive) supervisors and the objectifying (versus nonobjectifying) tasks in a laboratory setting. Results also indicated that the abusive supervisor exerts a greater influence than performing objectifying tasks on organizational dehumanization, self-objectification, and job satisfaction. The detrimental effect of an abusive supervisor in comparison with other working conditions on workers’ humanness is discussed, and practical implications are highlighted.

Workers’ instrumental treatment is commonly seen as a strategic way to reach organizational goals. Drawing on relevant recent literature, this paper sought to show experimentally that instrumental treatment is instead associated with negative outcomes for the individual and the organization. We sought to demonstrate that treating people as instruments would lead them to self-objectify – to self-perceive as objects rather than human beings – which would result in them being less engaged in a given task, thus undermining their performance. Study 1 was designed to provide a first test of our hypotheses by manipulating the instrumental (vs. non-instrumental) treatment enacted by an experimenter toward naïve participants (N = 85) during the performance of a cognitive task. Study 2 consisted in a simulated online work activity in which participants (N = 147) were asked to play the role of a proofreader for a fictitious newspaper, while being treated in an instrumental (vs. non-instrumental) way by the editorial staff. The results provided convergent evidence about the hypothesized process: being instrumentally (vs. non-instrumentally) treated leads people to self-objectify (i.e., to self-perceive as more instrument-like than human) and, in turn, their engagement with the task and performance are undermined. Implications for organizational and social psychology research are discussed.

Due to a clerical error, the values for the amount of technology use for business/school motives before the lockdown were reported incorrectly in Table 2 and Table 3. The amended Table 2 and Table 3 appears below. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated. (Table presented.).

This study explores the psychological effects of the COVID-19 emergency on workers employed in the supermarket sector by analysing their levels of burnout and the relationship between the burnout syndrome and employees' workplace experiences. A sample of 422 Italian workers answered a survey addressing the burnout dimensions (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy) along with perceived organizational factors and dehumanizing representations. Results showed that 32% of the respondents had symptoms of severe burnout, and 41% had symptoms of exhaustion and cynicism. More specifically, through cluster analysis, four burnout profiles were identified: “burnout” (high on all three dimensions), “engagement” (low on all three dimensions), “overextended” (high on exhaustion), and “disengaged” (moderate on exhaustion and cynicism). Each cluster showed a different pattern of correlates with the organizational and dehumanizing perceptions. Our findings contribute to the knowledge gaps of burnout and workplace experiences by providing insights into the ongoing health emergency among supermarket clerks. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Over recent years, social psychological research has investigated dehumanization (viewing and treating people as less than human) by primarily focusing on those who dehumanize—the perpetrators. Less is known about those who are dehumanized—the targets of dehumanization. This Special Issue aims to address this gap by assembling empirical works on metadehumanization (when targets perceive that they are being dehumanized by others) and self-dehumanization (when targets come to see themselves in dehumanized ways). In this introductory article, we summarize the state of the science and suggest a research agenda for further studying dehumanization from the target’s perspective, by considering: (a) the impact of dehumanizing portrayal used in media; (b) the role of cultural or societal features in shaping our humanness; (c) the individual or situational variables that trigger a dehumanizing versus rehumanizing reaction to dehumanization; (d) the influence of risk- or protective factors on the emerging of metadehumanizing or self-dehumanizing feelings; and (e) the phenomenon of ingroup dehumanization.

Through two studies (N = 602) conducted in Italy between February and March 2020, we examined the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on biologization—a form of dehumanization that involves the perception of others as contagious entities—and outgroup prejudice. Overall, results showed that higher emergency perception was associated with greater biologization toward the groups most affected by the virus, namely the Chinese outgroup and the Italian ingroup. In turn, biologization toward the outgroup increased prejudice against that group. We also found that when the pandemic hit Italy, the greater emergency perception was associated with increased emotional closeness with Chinese people, resulting in reduced biologization and prejudice toward them. However, these results held true only for Italian respondents who reported higher levels of ingroup biologization. Taken together, our findings contribute to the knowledge gaps of biologization and prejudice by also providing relevant insights into the ongoing health emergency.

Recent research showed that workers' self‐objectification—their self‐perception as objects rather than human beings—leads to detrimental intrapersonal consequences. In the present research, we explored whether this phenomenon may also affect interpersonal relations, by increasing workers' tendencies to conform. In a correlational study, Italian workers who perceived their work as more objectifying self‐objectified more—self‐attributed less human mental states and self‐perceive as more instrument‐like than human‐like—and, in turn, were more inclined to conform with others. The second study experimentally confirmed this pattern, showing that British workers who recalled an objectifying (vs. a non‐objectifying) work experience self‐objectified more. Self‐perception as instrument‐like was associated, in turn, with an increased tendency to adapt to others' opinions. The implications for organizational and social psychology are discussed.

Through three studies (N = 306), we analysed the association between physical disgust and implicit biologization – the perception of others as disease organisms. In doing so, we employed an adapted version of the Semantic Misattribution Procedure (SMP). Study 1 found that the higher was the level of physical (vs. moral) disgust that White participants felt towards Black people, the higher was their implicit tendency to biologize this ethnic group. Study 2 and Study 3 experimentally replicated the association between physical disgust and biologization by manipulating physical disgust through vignettes that portrayed a target behaving in a physically (vs. morally vs. non-disgusting) way. Results showed that participants assigned to the physical disgust condition biologized more the target – both implicitly and explicitly – than participants in the moral disgust and non-disgusting condition. Overall, these findings shed light on the biological dehumanization of others and its emotional roots, by thus paving the way for its prevention.

The paper presents an open usable tool, the ACME shop paradigm, for experimentally studying self-objectification due to objectifying work activities. The paradigm consists of a simulation in which participants are asked to perform an objectifying (repetitive, fragmented, and other directed) vs a non-objectifying work activity. Two studies tested the construct (convergent and discriminant) validity of the paradigm by showing its effectiveness in inducing different facets of working self-objectification–but not other forms of dehumanization–in laboratory and online settings. In the objectifying condition, participants self-objectified more, that is they self-attributed less human mental state and self-perceived as more instrument-like than participants in the non-objectifying and control (an activity characterized by objectifying features but not related to the work domain) conditions. Moreover, the convergent and discriminant validity of the paradigm in inducing self-objectification, and no other type of dehumanization, was demonstrated by the significant impact of objectifying condition on self-attribution of both agency and experience and not on self-perception as animal-like. Applications of the paradigm will be discussed.

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has forced governments to impose a lockdown, and many people have suddenly found themselves having to reduce their social relations drastically. Given the exceptional nature of similar situations, only a few studies have investigated the negative psychological effects of forced social isolation and how they can be mitigated in a real context. In the present study, we investigated whether the amount of digital communication technology use for virtual meetings (i.e., voice and video calls, online board games and multiplayer video games, or watching movies in party mode) during the lockdown promoted the perception of social support, which in itself mitigated the psychological effects of the lockdown in Italy. Data were collected in March 2020 (N = 465), during the lockdown imposed to reduce the COVID-19 spread. The results indicated that the amount of digital technology use reduced feelings of loneliness, anger/irritability, and boredom and increased belongingness via the perception of social support. The present study supported the positive role of digital technologies in maintaining meaningful social relationships even during an extreme situation such as a lockdown. Implications such as the need to reduce the digital divide and possible consequences of the ongoing pandemic are discussed.

The present study aims to investigate the indirect link between sexual objectification and belief in personal free will. We hypothesized that being subjected to objectifying commentary would lead women to self-objectify and, in turn, to perceive themselves as having less personal free will. In this study, 105 women were asked to sign up a website created for this study by providing a personal description and a photo. After signing up, they received feedback from a fictitious male user. Depending on the condition, the comment was neutral (baseline), focused on their description (non-objectifying) or focused on their physical appearance (objectifying). The results showed that participants in the objectifying condition (vs. non-objectifying vs. baseline) self-objectified (i.e., perceived themselves as lacking human mental states and more as an instrument vs. a human) and, in turn, believed that they had less personal free will. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for educators and therapists are discussed.

The present studies aim to expand research on dehumanization in the work domain by exploring the biologization – an unexplored form of dehumanization that involves the perception of others as infected and contagious – of physically tainted workers. By integrating the literature on biologization with that of disgust and physically dirty work, we expected that the biologization of workers would be explained by their dirty work environment and by increased feelings of disgust towards them. In Study 1, we showed that focusing on a dirty work environment (vs. on the person performing the work) increased feelings of disgust towards workers and, in turn, their biologization. Coherently, in Study 2, we found that a physically tainted occupation (vs. baseline condition) increased participants’ feelings of disgust and biological dehumanization towards the worker. In contrast, a non-physically tainted occupation (vs. baseline condition) had no effects on disgust and biologization. The theoretical and practical implications are considered

The present study aims at expanding research on dehumanization in the work domain by exploring laypeople's dehumanizing perceptions towards stigmatized workers. Starting from Hughes’ (1951, Social psychology at the crossroads, Harper & Brothers, New York; Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999, Academy of Management Review, 24, 413) concept of ‘dirty work’, the present research aims to demonstrate that the different types of occupational taint elicit distinct dehumanizing images of certain occupational groups. Employing a cluster analysis, the results showed that workers in the physical taint cluster were most strongly associated with biological metaphors, workers in the social taint cluster were perceived as most similar to objects, and workers in the moral taint cluster were perceived as most similar to animals. The theoretical and practical implications are considered.

The present work explores whether self-objectification triggered by doing peculiar work activities would increase people’s conforming behavior. We conducted an experimental study in which participants (N = 140) were asked to perform a high objectifying activity (vs. low objectifying activity vs. baseline condition) simulating a real computer job. Afterwards, their levels of self-objectification and conforming behavior were assessed. Results revealed that participants who performed the high objectifying activity self-objectified (i.e., perceived themselves as lacking human mental states) more than the other conditions and, in turn, conformed more to the judgments of unknown similar others. Crucially, increased self-objectification mediated the effects of the high objectifying activity on enhancing conforming behavior. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed