I too find it extremely interesting. It's hard not to be interested, because the subject isn't just an abstract concept, you see it play out between people- on SI for example. People can be very quick to label people as "The Other"- and this justifies all sorts of bizarre actions. I wish we talked about this more.
I posted an article recently on loneliness, and the way people view pets. There have been studies that suggest that lonely people are more likely to think pets are thinking about them, and have human qualities, than people who have a full social life. It also appears to be true that people in groups, with friends and family, are more like to dehumanize people who are different- isn't that interesting? I think, if you think about it, we can all see the adaptive reasons for that. A human alone- before civilization- would have had tough sledding- so we must be programmed, when we are alone, to see almost anyone, or anything else, as "friendly"- promoting our assimilation. If, however, we are already part of a group, we really don't need to add to it- and adding might be a bigger risk than excluding- so apparently groups exclude, and lone individuals do the opposite.
I'll go grab the study and post it here.
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