Bolstering Policy Support for Disadvantaged Groups Through Humanization

Cooley et al. and Hodson and Doucher show that individuals, individuals within groups, and groups evoke different levels of perceived humanity, and that these differences affect sympathy and willingness to help. In three preregistered experiments, we successfully replicate these findings in a different cultural context (Slovakia). We then test whether manipulating these depictions also affects support for policies that benefit the target. We focus on a disadvantaged ethnic minority (the Roma). Finally, we investigate whether internal (under the beneficiary’s control) versus external attribution (outside of the beneficiary’s control) is a mitigating factor. We confirm individuals and group-compositions evoke higher levels of policy support than groups through increases in perceived humanity. However, this relationship only holds under conditions of external attribution. To humanize disadvantaged groups and bolster policy support, advocates should center their communicative messages around individuals rather than unitary groups and avoid stereotype-enforcing internal attributions.