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Poon KT, Chan RSW, Lai HS, Jiang Y, Teng F. Watching for a snake in the grass: Objectification increases conspiracy beliefs. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38780089 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Objectification, being treated as a tool to achieve someone's instrumental goals, is a common phenomenon. A workplace supervisor may view employees solely in terms of their output; likewise, friends may be seen only for their potential for personal and social advancement. We conducted five studies (N = 1209) to test whether objectification increases conspiracy beliefs through thwarted trust and whether postobjectification increases in conspiracy beliefs carry behavioural implications. While conspiracy beliefs may have evolved as a strategy for survival, they may be considered maladaptive in the modern world. Therefore, understanding the antecedents, underlying mechanisms, and implications of conspiracy beliefs is essential. We measured (Study 1) and manipulated objectification (Studies 2-5), consistently finding that objectification decreased trust, thereby increasing conspiracy beliefs (Studies 1-5). This effect remained after considering negative emotions (Study 2). Increased conspiracy beliefs following objectification positively predicted unethical tendencies, and the effect of objectification on unethical tendencies was serially mediated by trust and conspiracy beliefs (Study 4). Restoring objectified people's trust weakened their conspiracy beliefs and unethical tendencies (Study 5). We discussed the implications of our findings, proposing directions for researchers, practitioners, managers, and policymakers for theoretical advancement, healthier coping, and promotion of well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai-Tak Poon
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Rheal S W Chan
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hill-Son Lai
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yufei Jiang
- Department of Administrative Management, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Fei Teng
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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Dai Y, Jiang T, Gaer W, Poon KT. Workplace Objectification Leads to Self-Harm: The Mediating Effect of Depressive Moods. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023:1461672231213898. [PMID: 38047443 DOI: 10.1177/01461672231213898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
In the current research, we aimed to extend the literature on workplace objectification and contribute to employees' well-being by exploring whether and how workplace objectification increases self-harm as well as the coping strategy that may weaken the effect. Employing archive data analytic, correlational, longitudinal, and experimental designs, we found that workplace objectification was associated with, or led to, self-harm, irrespective of whether such actions provided an escape from work. This effect could not be simply ascribed to the negative nature of workplace objectification. We further found that depressive moods mediated this effect. The detrimental effect of workplace objectification on self-harm was lessened when employees perceived higher alternatives in life. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuwan Dai
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Tonglin Jiang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Wangchu Gaer
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Kai-Tak Poon
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, The Educational University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Baldissarri C, Fourie MM. Dehumanizing organizations: insidious effects of having one’s human integrity denied at work. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Baldissarri C, Demoulin S, Kteily N. Introduction to the Special Issue of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations Less than Human: What People who are Dehumanized Think, Feel, and Do. GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/13684302221139414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Over recent years, social psychological research has investigated dehumanization (viewing and treating people as less than human) by primarily focusing on those who dehumanize—the perpetrators. Less is known about those who are dehumanized—the targets of dehumanization. This Special Issue aims to address this gap by assembling empirical works on metadehumanization (when targets perceive that they are being dehumanized by others) and self-dehumanization (when targets come to see themselves in dehumanized ways). In this introductory article, we summarize the state of the science and suggest a research agenda for further studying dehumanization from the target’s perspective, by considering: (a) the impact of dehumanizing portrayal used in media; (b) the role of cultural or societal features in shaping our humanness; (c) the individual or situational variables that trigger a dehumanizing versus rehumanizing reaction to dehumanization; (d) the influence of risk- or protective factors on the emerging of metadehumanizing or self-dehumanizing feelings; and (e) the phenomenon of ingroup dehumanization.
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Baldissarri C, Pagliaro S, Teresi M, Andrighetto L. Humanness in times of uncertainty: On the link between perceived job insecurity, self‐objectification and well‐being. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefano Pagliaro
- Department of Neuroscience Imaging and Clinical Sciences University of Chieti‐Pescara Chieti Italy
| | - Manuel Teresi
- Department of Neuroscience Imaging and Clinical Sciences University of Chieti‐Pescara Chieti Italy
| | - Luca Andrighetto
- Department of Educational Science University of Genova Genoa Italy
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Angulo-Sherman IN, Saavedra-Hernández A, Urbina-Arias NE, Hernández-Granados Z, Sainz M. Preliminary Evidence of EEG Connectivity Changes during Self-Objectification of Workers. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 22:7906. [PMID: 36298257 PMCID: PMC9606942 DOI: 10.3390/s22207906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Economic objectification is a form of dehumanization in which workers are treated as tools for enhancing productivity. It can lead to self-objectification in the workplace, which is when people perceive themselves as instruments for work. This can cause burnout, emotional drain, and a modification of self-perception that involves a loss of human attributes such as emotions and reasoning while focusing on others' perspectives for evaluating the self. Research on workers self-objectification has mainly analyzed the consequences of this process without exploring the brain activity that underlies the individual's experiences of self-objectification. Thus, this project explores the electroencephalographic (EEG) changes that occur in participants during an economic objectifying task that resembled a job in an online store. After the task, a self-objectification questionnaire was applied and its resulting index was used to label the participants as self-objectified or non-self-objectified. The changes over time in EEG event-related synchronization (ERS) and partial directed coherence (PDC) were calculated and compared between the self-objectification groups. The results show that the main differences between the groups in ERS and PDC occurred in the beta and gamma frequencies, but only the PDC results correlated with the self-objectification group. These results provide information for further understanding workers' self-objectification. These EEG changes could indicate that economic self-objectification is associated with changes in vigilance, boredom, and mind-wandering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irma N. Angulo-Sherman
- Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica, Vicerrectoría de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Monterrey, Av. Ignacio Morones Prieto 4500 Pte., San Pedro Garza García 66238, Mexico
| | - Annel Saavedra-Hernández
- Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica, Vicerrectoría de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Monterrey, Av. Ignacio Morones Prieto 4500 Pte., San Pedro Garza García 66238, Mexico
| | - Natalia E. Urbina-Arias
- Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica, Vicerrectoría de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Monterrey, Av. Ignacio Morones Prieto 4500 Pte., San Pedro Garza García 66238, Mexico
| | - Zahamara Hernández-Granados
- Departamento de Ingeniería Biomédica, Vicerrectoría de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Monterrey, Av. Ignacio Morones Prieto 4500 Pte., San Pedro Garza García 66238, Mexico
| | - Mario Sainz
- Departamento de Psicología Social y de las Organizaciones, Universidad Nacional de Estudios a Distancia, C. de Bravo Murillo 38, 28015 Madrid, Spain
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Baldissarri C, Gabbiadini A, Andrighetto L, Volpato C. The ACME shop: A paradigm to investigate working (self-) objectification. The Journal of Social Psychology 2021; 161:526-542. [PMID: 33158399 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2020.1845592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
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 - but not other forms of dehumanization - in 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.
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Baldissarri C, Andrighetto L, Volpato C. The longstanding view of workers as objects: antecedents and consequences of working objectification. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2021.1956778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Baldissarri
- Dipartimento Di Psicologia, Università Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano, 20126, Italy
| | - Luca Andrighetto
- DISFOR - Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, Università Degli Studi Di Genova, Corso Podestà 2 - 16128, Genova, Italy
| | - Chiara Volpato
- Dipartimento Di Psicologia, Università Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano, 20126, Italy
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Crone L, Brunel L, Auzoult L. Validation of a Perception of Objectification in the Workplace Short Scale (POWS). Front Psychol 2021; 12:651071. [PMID: 34163402 PMCID: PMC8215106 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.651071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
An increasing number of studies focus on the phenomenon of objectification in the workplace. This phenomenon reflects a process of subjection of the employee, where he is considered as an object, a mean (utilitarian) or reduced to one of his attributes. Previous studies have shown that objectification can have consequences on the workplace health or performance. Field studies are based on objectification measures based on tools whose psychometric qualities are unclear. Based on a previous workplace objectification measurement scale, we conducted a study with the aim of devising a new parsimonious scale. We present three studies which aim to validate this new scale. In the first study, an EFA and a CFA were performed in order to construct a scale and verify its structure validity. We obtained a 10-item scale reporting two factors labeled “Instrumental value” and “Powerfulness.” The psychometric qualities of this scale were satisfactory, i.e., showed good internal reliability and good structural validity. In a second study, we tested the convergent and divergent validity of the scale. We observe that POWS is adequately correlated with dehumanization indicators. Finally, in a third study, we found that only powerfulness was associated with negative consequences for occupational health. This suggests that objectification is a process of social perception that contributes either to the devaluation of social agents in the workplace or to normal functioning at work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lola Crone
- Laboratory Epsylon EA 4556, Department of Psychology, University Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Lionel Brunel
- Laboratory Epsylon EA 4556, Department of Psychology, University Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Laurent Auzoult
- Laboratory Psy-DREPI EA 7458, Department of Psychology, University Bourgogne, Dijon, France
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Baldissarri C, Andrighetto L. Being Treated as an Instrument: Consequences of Instrumental Treatment and Self-Objectification on Task Engagement and Performance. HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/08959285.2021.1878182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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