From Envy to Attack: How Warmth and Competence Stereotypes Fuel Global Hostility

[Maciamo]

I have been re-reading Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, by Robert M. Sapolsky, one of the most interesting books I have read.

I thought I'd share a few passages from chapter 11 "Us versus Them" as I found it very illuminating in humans think, feel and behave towards people from other ethnic groups. I think it also works for individuals even within one's own ethnicity if we apply the same categorization to individuals.

And the categorization of low warmth/ high competence. It’s how people in the developing world tend to view the European culture that used to rule them, and how many minority Americans view whites. It’s the hostile stereotype of Asian Americans by white America, of Jews in Europe, of Indo- Pakistanis in East Africa, of Lebanese in West Africa, and of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia (and, to a lesser extent, of rich people by poorer people everywhere). And it’s the same derogation— they’re cold, greedy, cleverly devious, clannish, don’t assimilate, have loyalties elsewhere— but, dang, they sure know how to make money, and you probably should go to one who is a doctor if you have something serious. People tend toward consistent feelings evoked by each of the extremes. For high warmth, high competence (i.e., Us), there’s pride. Low warmth, high competence— envy. High warmth, low competence— pity. Low warmth, low competence— disgust.

The places between the extremes evoke their own characteristic responses. Individuals who evoke a reaction between pity and pride evoke a desire to help them. Floating between pity and disgust is a desire to exclude and demean. Between pride and envy is a desire to associate, to derive benefits from. And between envy and disgust are our most hostile urges to attack.