Dr. Fiske and (de)humanization

Stereotype Content Model (SCM)

I really enjoyed Dr. Fiske’s lecture on Friday on (de)humanization as she discussed the ways in which people make sense of other people and how this affects their responses in various situations. The results of her research regarding the stereotype content model (SCM, pictured to the right) show that not all stereotypes are negative and that emotions play a large part in forming them.  


In addition, I found the “trolley dilemma,” (pictured below) which illuminates how individuals decide upon the most appropriate action when confronted with moral uncertainties to be a very interesting concept. Her explanation of the systematic differences between in-groups and out-groups also really resonated with me.

Trolley Dilemma: What would you do?

I particularly liked her segment on “over-humanization” in which she spoke about how people differentially attribute social cognition to different species of animals. It’s fascinating to realize that we do in fact have feelings of pride and admiration when thinking about cats, dogs, monkeys or elephants. Overall, the research shows that prejudice is not just a general feeling of dislike for a certain group and that the concept is actually much broader and goes much further in affecting how individuals conduct their daily lives.