When dehumanization wounds: The role of executive functions in decisions to shoot.

This study examined the moderator effect of the executive functions on the consequences of outgroup dehumanization. In particular, we tested whether the denial of humanity leads to decide of shooting armed Moroccan targets (outgroup) more quickly compared to armed Italian targets (ingroup). We also tested whether this bias is only present among participants with lower control on their behavior (Kleider & Parrott, 2009). Participants (Italian university students) performed three computer tasks: 1. a Stroop task to measure the executive control; 2. a SCIAT (Karpinski & Steinman, 2006) to measure the implicit humanity bias toward Moroccans; 3. a modified version of the Shooter task (see Correll et al., 2002) to measure violent behavior. To test moderation, hierarchical regression was applied. Results fully confirmed hypotheses: outgroup dehumanization predicted faster latencies in shooting Moroccan stimuli compared to Italian, only for participants with high Stroop interference. This study provides first evidence of the moderator role of executive functions for the relation between dehumanization and violent behaviors. Individuals with an efficient cognitive control can inhibit the tendency to be violent toward dehumanized targets; individuals with a less efficient cognitive control, instead, may easily perform violent acts toward dehumanized groups. Social implications of findings are discussed.