Workers as objects: The nature of working objectification and the role of perceived alienation

The aim of the present study is to advance the research on working objectification by analyzing its nature and the mechanism underlying this process. In particular, we hypothesized that working objectification involved an automatic association of the worker with an object and a full denial of humanness related to both agency and experience. Further, we expected that perceived alienation could explain the relationship between critical working conditions and objectifying perceptions. Results showed that, compared to an artisan, a factory worker was automatically associated with the objectrelated words rather than with person-related words. Furthermore, the factory worker was perceived as having less agency and experience than the artisan. Finally, the perception of the factory work as fragmented, repetitive, and other-directed was related to a view of work as being more alienating, which, in turn, led to the increased objectification of the worker. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Intergroup biologization and outgroup prejudice in the time of COVID-19

Through two studies (N = 602) conducted in Italy between February and March 2020, we examined the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on biologization\u2014a form of dehumanization that involves the perception of others as contagious entities\u2014and outgroup prejudice. Overall, results showed that higher emergency perception was associated with greater biologization toward the groups most affected by the virus, namely the Chinese outgroup and the Italian ingroup. In turn, biologization toward the outgroup increased prejudice against that group. We also found that when the pandemic hit Italy, the greater emergency perception was associated with increased emotional closeness with Chinese people, resulting in reduced biologization and prejudice toward them. However, these results held true only for Italian respondents who reported higher levels of ingroup biologization. Taken together, our findings contribute to the knowledge gaps of biologization and prejudice by also providing relevant insights into the ongoing health emergency

Objectified conformity: Working self-objectification increases conforming behavior

The present work explores whether self-objectification triggered by doing peculiar work activities would increase people\u2019s conforming behavior. We conducted an experimental study in which participants (N = 140) were asked to perform a high objectifying activity (vs. low objectifying activity vs. baseline condition) simulating a real computer job. Afterwards, their levels of self-objectification and conforming behavior were assessed. Results revealed that participants who performed the high objectifying activity self-objectified (i.e., perceived themselves as lacking human mental states) more than the other conditions and, in turn, conformed more to the judgments of unknown similar others. Crucially, increased self-objectification mediated the effects of the high objectifying activity on enhancing conforming behavior. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discusse

Seeing others as a disease: The impact of physical (but not Moral) disgust on biologization

Through three studies (N = 306), we analysed the association between physical disgust and implicit biologization \u2013 the perception of others as disease organisms. In doing so, we employed an adapted version of the Semantic Misattribution Procedure (SMP). Study 1 found that the higher was the level of physical (vs. moral) disgust that White participants felt towards Black people, the higher was their implicit tendency to biologize this ethnic group. Study 2 and Study 3 experimentally replicated the association between physical disgust and biologization by manipulating physical disgust through vignettes that portrayed a target behaving in a physically (vs. morally vs. non-disgusting) way. Results showed that participants assigned to the physical disgust condition biologized more the target \u2013 both implicitly and explicitly \u2013 than participants in the moral disgust and non-disgusting condition. Overall, these findings shed light on the biological dehumanization of others and its emotional roots, by thus paving the way for its prevention

The ACME shop: A paradigm to investigate working (self-) objectification

The paper presents an open usable tool, the ACME shop paradigm, for experimentally studying self-objectification due to objectifying work activities. The paradigm consists of a simulation in which participants are asked to perform an objectifying (repetitive, fragmented, and other directed) vs a non-objectifying work activity. Two studies tested the construct (convergent and discriminant) validity of the paradigm by showing its effectiveness in inducing different facets of working self-objectification\u2013but not other forms of dehumanization\u2013in laboratory and online settings. In the objectifying condition, participants self-objectified more, that is they self-attributed less human mental state and self-perceived as more instrument-like than participants in the non-objectifying and control (an activity characterized by objectifying features but not related to the work domain) conditions. Moreover, the convergent and discriminant validity of the paradigm in inducing self-objectification, and no other type of dehumanization, was demonstrated by the significant impact of objectifying condition on self-attribution of both agency and experience and not on self-perception as animal-like. Applications of the paradigm will be discussed

Workers' self-objectification and tendencies to conform to others

none4noRecent research showed that workers' self-objectification—their self-perception as objects rather than human beings—leads to detrimental intrapersonal consequences. In the present research, we explored whether this phenomenon may also affect interpersonal relations, by increasing workers' tendencies to conform. In a correlational study, Italian workers who perceived their work as more objectifying self-objectified more—self-attributed less human mental states and self-perceive as more instrument-like than human-like—and, in turn, were more inclined to conform with others. The second study experimentally confirmed this pattern, showing that British workers who recalled an objectifying (vs. a non-objectifying) work experience self-objectified more. Self-perception as instrument-like was associated, in turn, with an increased tendency to adapt to others' opinions. The implications for organizational and social psychology are discussed.mixedBaldissarri C.; Andrighetto L.; Di Bernardo G.A.; Annoni A.Baldissarri, C.; Andrighetto, L.; Di Bernardo, G. A.; Annoni, A

Examining workers’ self-objectification through the lens of social identity: The role of ethical climate and organizational identification

Self-objectification at the workplace is the employees’ perception of being less human and more instrument-like. We explored whether perceived ethical climate – the shared perceptions of how the organization deals with ethical issues – represents an antecedent of self-objectification, in the light of the social identity approach. In a correlational study (N = 239), we found that an ethical climate of collectivism and interdependence (i.e., friendship) reduced self-objectification, via higher levels of organizational identification; the opposite emerged with regards to an ethical climate of individualism and independence (i.e., self-interest). Results are discussed in terms of workers’ wellbeing and organizational policie