SBP: CAREER: Mechanistic Dehumanization of Asians: Identifying Causes, Consequences, and Countermeasures for a More Inclusive STEM Workforce

为了建设一个更包容的社会，我们必须公平和友善地对待社区中的不同成员。然而，正如最近发生的事件（例如COVID-19大流行）所证明的那样，亚裔美国人和亚裔在美国面临着缺乏领导机会、很少得到社会接受和支持、遭受种族化的言语和身体攻击等偏见。这些偏见甚至出现在亚裔人数较多的地方，比如STEM学校和工作场所。过去的理论和研究记录了几种刻板印象，解释了为什么会出现对亚洲人的偏见（例如，被视为外国人和成就很高）。当前的项目扩展了过去的工作，探索了基于非人性化跨学科研究的对亚洲人偏见的独特贡献者。具体来说，有人提出，亚洲人在美国历史上一直被视为机器或机器人，表明他们受到“机械的非人化”。本项目将这种非人性化视角与社会和工业组织心理学研究相结合，建立了一个理论模型来解释在美国的亚洲人是如何受到机械性非人性化的影响的。它还记录了有助于潜在干预措施的心理过程，以鼓励人们看到他人的人性。本项目围绕一系列定性（例如，焦点小组）和定量（例如，调查，实验）研究来组织，以检查在STEM工作场所和教育环境中对亚洲人的机械非人化的原因，后果和对策。美国的亚裔社区是多元化的，本项目以东亚、南亚和东南亚（即美国的主要亚裔群体）为目标，同时包括不同种族和民族背景的成员作为参与者。该项目揭示了机械非人化的关键子因素，如感知顺从和缺乏情感，并开发了一种工具来科学地评估这一概念。使用这一措施，该项目将系统地探讨三个目标。首先，它决定了机械性的非人性化在多大程度上可以解释对亚洲人的偏见（例如，在学校和工作中缺乏社会支持）。其次，它揭示了解释为什么机械性非人性化可能是这些偏见的基础的心理过程。第三，它揭示了导致在美国的亚洲人更容易受到机械非人化的原因（例如，群体和文化差异）。该项目还编写反非人性化教育材料，以提高对这些问题的认识，并在社会、教育和组织环境中改善公平和包容。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

To build a more inclusive society, diverse members in our communities must be treated fairly and kindly. However, as evidenced by recent events (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic), Asian Americans and Asians in the U.S. face biases from lacking leadership opportunities, receiving little social acceptance and support, to experiencing racialized verbal and physical attacks. These biases occur even in places where Asians are well-represented such as STEM schools and workplaces. Past theory and research have documented several stereotypes that explain why biases against Asians can occur (e.g., being seen as foreign and high achieving). The current project expands on past work by exploring a unique contributor to biases against Asians based on interdisciplinary research on dehumanization. Specifically, it is proposed that Asians have historically been viewed in the U.S. as like machines or robotics, indicating that they are subject to “mechanistic dehumanization.” Integrating this dehumanization perspective with social and industrial-organizational psychology research, this project develops a theoretical model to explain how Asians in the U.S. are impacted by mechanistic dehumanization. It also documents the psychological processes that can contribute to potential interventions to encourage people to see the humanity in others.This project is organized around a set of qualitative (e.g., focus groups) and quantitative (e.g., surveys, experiments) studies to examine the causes, consequences, and countermeasures of mechanistic dehumanization of Asians in the context of STEM workplaces and educational settings. Asian communities in the U.S. are diverse, and this project focuses on East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian (i.e., the major Asian subgroups in the U.S.) targets while including members of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds as participants. The project unpacks key subfactors of mechanistic dehumanization, such as perceived submissiveness and lack of emotions, and it develops an instrument to scientifically assess this concept. Using this measure, the project will systematically explore three objectives. First, it determines the extent to which mechanistic dehumanization can explain biases against Asians (e.g., lack of social support at school and at work). Second, it exposes the psychological processes explaining why mechanistic dehumanization may underlie these biases. Third, it uncovers causes (e.g., group and cultural differences) that make Asians in the U.S. more vulnerable to mechanistic dehumanization. The project also develops anti-dehumanization educational materials to increase awareness of these issues and to improve equity and inclusion in social, educational, and organizational contexts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.