Skip to navigation | Skip to content  Stereotypes make people
'less than human'   Do some people remind you of robots? If so,
are we dehumanising them? And what are the consequences? (Image:
iStockphoto) (Source: iStockphoto)  Stereotyping certain groups
of people as being like a robot or animal is a subtle form of
dehumanisation, say Australian psychologists.  And understanding
this could help avoid more serious dehumanisation normally
associated with discrimination, warfare, genocide and torture.
Dr Nick Haslam and PhD student Stephen Loughnan of the
University of Melbourne report their findings in a recent issue
of the journal Psychological Science.  "There's been lots of
work on how dehumanisation occurs in wartime; how thinking about
the person you're harming as 'less than human' enables you to
inflict harm on them," says Haslam.  "Our work is trying to say
this can also take more everyday subtle and mild forms."
Haslam's research shows that stereotypes can subtly dehumanised
children, the elderly, art