Agency and communion play a crucial theoretical role in perceptions of humanness and dehumanization.

Clarifying measurement of dehumanization and the role of social context can systematize seemingly conflicting empirical findings.

Primacy of agency or communion in predicting dehumanization may depend on the social context of a given group.

Disadvantaged groups/victims are dehumanized based on perceived low agency.

Advantaged groups/perpetrators are dehumanized based on perceived low morality.

Dehumanization, the denial of human qualities to others, should theoretically be predicted by perceptions of agency and communion, the ‘Big Two’ dimensions coordinating social cognition. However, empirical tests of the relations between dehumanization and the Big Two yielded seemingly contradicting results. We argue that these results can be explained by considering (a) different measurements and conceptualizations used in the dehumanization literature, and (b) different social contexts in which it was studied. Specifically, we suggest that when the target group has a victim status in the conflict, or is relatively disadvantaged in society, it is dehumanized based on perceived low agency. When the target group has a perpetrator status or is relatively advantaged, it is dehumanized based on perceived low morality.

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