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Abstract
Traditionally, prejudice has been conceptualized as simple animosity. The stereotype
content model (SCM) shows that some prejudice is worse. The SCM previously demonstrated
separate stereotype dimensions of warmth (low-high) and competence (low-high), identifying
four distinct out-group clusters. The SCM predicts that only extreme out-groups, groups
that are both stereotypically hostile and stereotypically incompetent (low warmth,
low competence), such as addicts and the homeless, will be dehumanized. Prior studies
show that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is necessary for social cognition. Functional
magnetic resonance imaging provided data for examining brain activations in 10 participants
viewing 48 photographs of social groups and 12 participants viewing objects; each
picture dependably represented one SCM quadrant. Analyses revealed mPFC activation
to all social groups except extreme (low-low) out-groups, who especially activated
insula and amygdala, a pattern consistent with disgust, the emotion predicted by the
SCM. No objects, though rated with the same emotions, activated the mPFC. This neural
evidence supports the prediction that extreme out-groups may be perceived as less
than human, or dehumanized.