When Groups Feel Hated or Dehumanized: A Model of Meta-Perceptions, Hate, and Dehumanization in Intergroup Conflict

What are the consequences of believing that one’s group is not merely disliked, but actively hated or seen as less than human by another group? Across five studies (N = 1,711), with two additional replication and extension studies reported in the online supplementary materials (N = 665), we examined meta-hate and meta-dehumanization as distinct forms of negative meta-perception and tested their implications for intergroup relations relative to meta-prejudice. In American-Muslim and Kosovo Albanian-Serb relations, Studies 1 and 2 supported a sequential pathway in which meta-hate and meta-dehumanization were associated with reduced openness to intergroup contact through heightened hate and dehumanization. Study 3 experimentally supported this pathway in Irish participants’ perceptions of Irish Travellers, while also showing that meta-hate and meta-dehumanization produced more negative intergroup outcomes than meta-prejudice. In American-Russian relations, Study 4 isolated hate from prejudice and showed that hate increased dehumanization and downstream hostility. In a UK Muslim context, Study 5 demonstrated that hate and dehumanization each independently worsened intergroup outcomes, and that their combination intensified hostility and withdrawal. Together, these findings identify meta-hate and meta-dehumanization as distinct and consequential meta-perceptions, and show that perceiving one’s group as hated or dehumanized can escalate conflict by fueling hostile emotion, dehumanizing cognition, and social disengagement.