Humility reduces objectification : mechanisms of psychological entitlement and empathy

Abstract

Objectification refers to perceiving and treating others as akin to objects (Nussbaum, 1995), which is commonly seen in people’s daily life. Objectification involves at least two sides: one is the source (i.e., who objectifies), and the other is the target (i.e., who is objectified). Objectification leads to several aversive outcomes for the targets; thus, it is important to reduce that from the source’s perspective. Based on the previous findings that a stronger self-focus and/or a reduced other-focus result in objectification, I argue that humility can reduce objectification due to its effect on decreasing people’s focus on themselves and promoting other orientations. Nine studies were conducted to examine the hypotheses that humility, either as a dispositional trait or a temporary state, could reduce people’s objectification of others. In addition, this effect could be mediated by a higher level of empathy and a lower level of psychological entitlement. Furthermore, if humility effectively reduces objectification, it may weaken the negative outcome induced by objectification (i.e., aggression, in the current case). The results consistently supported the above hypotheses. Studies 1a-1c provided correlational evidence for the link between dispositional humility and lower objectification, even after controlling for self-esteem (Study 1a). Studies 2a-2c examined a causal relationship between state humility and objectification. In Study 2a, participants with high (vs. low) humility selected a less objectified partner. In Study 2b, participants with high (vs. low) humility reported a decreased level of objectification, which was mediated by an increased level of empathy and a decreased level of psychological entitlement. And in Study 2c, participants inferred the target’s objectifying tendency based on the target’s humility, which was mediated by participants’ perceived promoted empathy and decreased psychological entitlement. Finally, Studies 3a-3c tested whether humility could further attenuate aggression following objectification. In Study 3a, participants higher in humility reported a lower level of objectification and aggression. In Study 3b, participants with high (vs. low) humility exhibited decreased objectification, which then translated into reduced aggression (i.e., inserting fewer pins to a voodoo doll). In Study 3c, humility and objectification were manipulated together. Results showed that humility moderated the effect of objectification on aggression; that is, after recalling a past humble experience, participants assigned fewer pain-inducing tablets to an objectified target. A mini-meta-analysis including all effect sizes of the relationship between humility and objectification indicates a large negative effect, which is not moderated by the samples’ countries. Taken together, the above findings provided both correlational and causal evidence that humility reduces objectification and its downstream effect (i.e., aggression). Besides, the effect of humility on objectification was mediated by a higher level of empathy and a lower level of psychological entitlement. I also discussed the theoretical and practical implications.