Partisan Dehumanization in Brazil     

Brazilian voters are polarized, between supporters and opponents of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party, PT). One symptom of polarization is partisan dehumanization, which signals moral disengagement from and support for aggressive or even violent treatment of one’s opponents. In this paper we offer novel insights about the roots of partisan dehumanization, both in Brazil specifically and more generally. Scholars of partisanship who leverage Social Identity Theory typically frame their arguments within an “us” versus “them” logic, in which competition between partisan in-groups generates out-group animosity. Using data from a survey-experiment fielded in 2022, we show that partisan dehumanization – and thus polarization more generally - requires only one party. For PT supporters, known as petistas, in-group favoritism drives dehumanization of their opponents. However, petistas lack a clear partisan out-group party to target for derogation, because antipetistas have no particular party they identify with consistently. This further implies that for antipetistas, in-group favoritism does not drive out-group animosity – again, because no partisan in-group exists. For petistas, the intensity of positive partisan attitudes; perception of out-group threat; and desire for moral and social distance drive dehumanization. For antipetistas, negative partisanship as well Social Dominance Orientation drive dehumanization.