Determined yet Dehumanized: People Higher in Self-control Are Seen as More Robotic

Lapka, Samantha, Franki Y. H. Kung, Justin P. Brienza, and Abigail Scholer. 2022. “Determined yet Dehumanized: People Higher in Self-control Are Seen as More Robotic.” PsyArXiv. March 23. doi:10.31234/osf.io/sp8aj

Abstract: Desire is part of human nature, and being vulnerable to desire is part of what differentiates humans from machines. However, individuals with high self-control—who demonstrate impressive resistance to their desires—may appear to lack such human vulnerability. We propose that people perceived as high in self-control tend to be dehumanized as more robotic, relating to potentially negative social consequences. Across 6 studies (N = 2,007), people perceived those higher in self-control as more robotic. Additionally, we found some evidence that this robotic-dehumanization was related to less interest in spending time with the high self-control person. This outcome was reliably linked to lower warmth perceptions which correlated with greater robotic-dehumanization. Together, our results offer new insights into the social dynamics of exhibiting high self-control.