Faunalytics.org
January 2018
There is now a small-but-growing body of research showing that people who are prejudiced toward members of other ethnic/religious/national groups are also more likely to hold anti-animal views.
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Speciesism is prejudice-based discrimination by humans against non-human
animals (Joy, 2005). In other words, speciesists view humans as residing at
the apex of life on Earth and, as such, ”lesser” lives are suitable for
human use, whether that be as food, clothing, analogs for product safety
testing, sport, entertainment, subjects in scientific research, etc. (Dhont
et al., 2016).
Racist people are also likely to be speciesist, and vice versa. Indeed,
there is now a small-but-growing body of research showing that people who
are prejudiced toward members of other ethnic/religious/national groups are
also more likely to hold anti-animal views. In this blog, I review some of
that research, explain what connects these two ideologies and, lastly,
address what – if anything – can be done to undermine them.
AND... Despite the seeming firmness with which dominance- and authoritarian-enhancing belief systems are held, there is now evidence that they are at least somewhat pliable. To the extent that change-seekers manage to positively influence people who endorse these belief systems, then it will be to the benefit of ALL beings, human and animal alike. And that is certainly a goal worth fighting for.
Topics include:
Go here to read more: Prejudice, Social Dominance, And Right-Wing Authoritarianism: The Dark Psychology Of Speciesism
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