The Emergence of Belief Attribution and Dehumanization Are Associated

Dehumanization is hypothesized to involve denying others a fully human mind. We tested its proposed link with theory-of-mind development in 3- to 6-year-olds (total N = 247) using a minimal group paradigm framed as a competition. Across two experiments, only children who understood false beliefs rated the outgroup as less human than the ingroup, although they liked the outgroup less regardless of their theory-of-mind performance. As theory-of-mind development advanced, outgroup dehumanization increased, with intent to harm the outgroup only being associated with dehumanization among children who also understood second-order beliefs (n = 51). However, the strength of this relationship remains uncertain since the effect became marginally significance after controlling for intergroup liking. These results provide initial support for theory-of-mind abilities being related to the development of dehumanization. They also point to the potential for intervention during early childhood before an association between dehumanization and aggression forms. SUMMARY: The emergence of dehumanization is associated with the development of theory-of-mind. Only children with belief attribution capacities consider the outgroup as less human. Children with more advanced belief attribution demonstrate stronger dehumanization, reflected in lower humanness ratings for the outgroup. In preschool-aged children (3- to 6-year-olds), dehumanization of the outgroup is not associated with verbal ability or age. In preschool-aged children, dehumanization and intergroup preference appear distinguishable by the relationship of dehumanization to the development of belief attribution abilities.