Humanizing the dehumanized: A test of strategies

Humanizing the dehumanized: A test of strategies | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Humanizing the dehumanized: A test of strategies Akila Kadambi, Sofronia Ringold, Shruti Kamath, Nandita Raman, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7330548/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Homelessness affects approximately 13.5 million individuals in the United States across their lifetime and is strongly associated with debilitating health outcomes, including premature mortality. Despite these risks, unhoused individuals experience social stigma and reduced moral concern. In this study, we tested whether negative perceptions toward unhoused individuals can be modified, or erased, through a targeted intervention during functional neuroimaging. On 40 participants, our intervention increased prosocial attitudes toward the unhoused, corresponding to brain activity changes in regions involved in somato-affective processing, including the insula and opercular regions. Greatest intervention-related neural change in these regions was observed in individuals who showed the least prosocial inclinations at baseline. Among five tested strategies, emphasizing an individual’s similarity with the unhoused (self-similarity strategy) produced the strongest effect. Our findings reveal a plausible neural basis for humanization, identifying self-similarity as a scalable strategy to enhance societal cohesion. Biological sciences/Psychology/Human behaviour Biological sciences/Neuroscience Full Text Additional Declarations The authors have declared there is NO conflict of interest to disclose Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterialshumanization.pdf Supplementary materials Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 16 Dec, 2025 Review # 1 received at journal 05 Oct, 2025 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 21 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 28 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 28 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 27 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7330548","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":512716096,"identity":"58046a1a-cde3-4b33-ad5b-36de3652cb2d","order_by":0,"name":"Akila 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