Feeling closer to ingroup members increases dehumanization of outgroups

Evidence

In one version of their studies, some participants were randomly assigned to experience social connection: “write about someone close to you that you interact with often” such as a “close friend, a significant other, or a family member.” Others were assigned to a control condition: “write about someone who you see in your daily life, but whom you do not interact with” such as “a person you often pass on the street, someone who you see around work or school, or a total stranger.” Then, depending on the specifics of the particular study, all participants were asked about various socially distant outgroups, such as drug addicts, disabled people, or detainees accused of terrorism. Who dehumanizes more: people who feel socially disengaged or socially connected? Their results were counterintuitive but decisive: feelings of stronger social connection to close others led to more dehumanization and harsher moral judgment of socially distant others. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 529

Categorization

• XREF: This directly parallels the Japanese authorities’ strategy in Silence: publicly enacted religious solidarity (trampling the fumi-e) tightens in-group bonds precisely by dehumanizing the apostate/foreign other — the same mechanism applied in reverse. — connects to: Successful dehumanizing creates moral exclusion, placing targeted groups outside the scope of moral protection — Dehumanizing Always Starts With Language; Intragroup trust can enable intergroup brutality; Denying shared humanity creates non-relation rather than strangeness within a group — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 400 (+4 more)
• QUESTION: Does increased religious community bonding, per the solidarity hypothesis, predictably track increased out-group dehumanization? This is directly testable against the fumi-e ritual’s function.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 529

Broader Connections

• Intragroup trust can enable intergroup brutality #corroborates (0.92)
• Denying shared humanity creates non-relation rather than strangeness within a group #complicates (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 400