Empathy helps, dehumanization harms: Beliefs about the causes of homelessness are (in)directly related to intentions to help and harm those who are unhoused

Abstract

Homelessness is a complex social issue that can be attributed to a constellation of dispositional, situational, and health-related causes. The extent to which these causal attributions are associated with the treatment of individuals experiencing homelessness, however, is not well understood. The current study addressed this gap by exploring the extent to which individual beliefs about the causes of homelessness were associated with intentions to help as well as endorsements of restrictions and legalistic harm aimed at those who are unhoused. Results demonstrated that structural and dispositional, but not health, attributions were associated with helpful and hurtful behaviors. Further, a structural equation model revealed that these effects were explained, in part, by empathy for and the dehumanization of individuals experiencing homelessness. Attributions were most clearly associated with intentions to help via empathy and endorsements of harm via distinct forms (animalistic and mechanistic) of dehumanization. Theoretical implications pertaining to Attribution Theory of Emotion and Motivation and the practical implications for improving the treatment of and support for individuals experiencing homelessness are also discussed.