Schuhmacher, Isabel (2025) Reciprocal Humanization: The Impact of Meta- Secondary Emotions on Men’s Humanization of Women and Gender Equality Support. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
In a world where gender inequality persists across social, political, and economic spheres, men’s active support is essential for lasting change. Yet many remain hesitant or even resistant to engage in pro-equality efforts. This thesis explores a novel mechanism that may shape men’s intentions to support gender equality: meta-secondary emotions or the perception that women attribute complex emotions to men. Past research shows that believing the outgroup humanizes the ingroup can increase support for the outgroup. This study experimentally tested whether perceiving positive (e.g., compassion) or negative (e.g., guilt) emotional recognition by women influences men’s reciprocal humanization of women and their willingness to support gender equality. It was hypothesized that positive meta-secondary emotions would lead to greater reciprocal humanization and higher support for gender equality, compared to negative or control conditions, and that this effect would be mediated by men’s attribution of secondary emotions to women. Heterosexual men in the U.S. (N = 398) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Supportive of reciprocal humanization, results indicated that both positive and negative meta-secondary emotions significantly increased men’s attribution of secondary emotions to women compared to the control. However, no significant effects emerged on men’s collective action intentions for gender equality, contrasting with earlier work linking humanization to intergroup support. Nor was there evidence of an indirect effect via reciprocal emotional attribution. These findings suggest that emotional recognition by women increases men’s perception of women’s emotional complexity regardless of emotional valence, contrary to expectations. Yet reciprocal humanization alone did not motivate pro-equality behavioral intentions. This study extends meta-humanization research by introducing the concept of meta-secondary emotions in gender relations and highlights directions for future research.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Borinca, I. and Zomeren, M. van |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Applied Social Psychology (ASP) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Jul 2025 09:31 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jul 2025 09:31 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5629 |
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